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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 120 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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. capital — money
  4. clip — for paper
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. capital — a city
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. clip — a video
  15. content — the amount
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. deal — to handle
  18. content — happy
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. wax — to grow
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. clip — to cut

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