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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  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. capital — money
  2. pound — a weight
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. field — farmland
  5. can — to be able to
  6. wake — a trail
  7. capital — a city
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. can — a tin
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — happy
  14. field — for sport
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. can — a tin
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. scale — size or range
  20. field — a subject
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. dip — to sink
  23. scale — in music
  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