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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bat — the animal
  5. plane — a tool
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bound — obliged
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — money
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. content — happy
  14. game — a match
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. row — a line
  18. bound — certain
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. game — wild animals
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. content — the amount
  24. fan — a supporter

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