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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. rule — government
  3. tear — to rip
  4. content — happy
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. key — for a lock
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — a partner
  9. capital — a city
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. capital — money
  12. ground — the earth
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. file — a line of people
  15. ground — crushed
  16. file — a tool
  17. tear — from crying
  18. ground — a position
  19. file — a document
  20. key — the most important part
  21. key — in music
  22. tear — from crying
  23. mate — to breed
  24. rule — a law

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