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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 120 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 all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. capital — money
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — happy
  6. face — part of the head
  7. mug — to rob
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. bat — the animal
  13. capital — a city
  14. row — to paddle
  15. face — to confront
  16. lean — to bend
  17. row — a line
  18. face — to point toward
  19. mug — a face
  20. mug — a cup
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. lean — thin
  24. bat — for baseball

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