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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. mate — a partner
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. cap — a lid
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. capital — money
  7. cap — a hat
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pound — a weight
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. cap — of ice
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. content — happy
  15. content — the amount
  16. mate — a friend
  17. clip — a video
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. mine — for digging
  20. clip — to cut
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mate — to breed
  24. capital — a city

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