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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — magic
  4. content — the amount
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. content — happy
  11. rash — a series
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. rash — hasty
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. spell — a short time
  16. pitch — completely
  17. capital — a city
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. club — a group
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. club — for golf
  23. chair — a leader
  24. content — videos and posts

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