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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 116 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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. content — happy
  3. fine — all right
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. bass — the fish
  8. last — finally
  9. bass — low music
  10. last — final
  11. content — the amount
  12. press — a publisher
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fall — the season
  16. capital — a city
  17. press — newspapers
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. fall — to drop
  21. last — to go on
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. press — to push
  24. fine — high quality

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