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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — final
  4. capital — money
  5. lean — to bend
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. board — to get on
  10. game — wild animals
  11. fork — in a road
  12. game — a match
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. content — happy
  15. board — a committee
  16. content — the amount
  17. season — in sport
  18. capital — a city
  19. lean — thin
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. last — finally
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. season — of the year

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com