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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. capital — a city
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. capital — money
  6. content — the amount
  7. spring — the season
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — a container
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. kick — in football
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. spring — of water
  14. tube — the underground
  15. swing — in golf
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. content — happy
  18. drill — a practice
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — the tool
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. swing — to play on
  23. spring — a coil
  24. capital — a big letter

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