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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. capital — money
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. firm — steady
  6. firm — decided
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. content — happy
  9. spell — a short time
  10. scale — size or range
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. spell — letters
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. content — the amount
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. spell — magic
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. field — a subject
  19. chip — to eat
  20. scale — in music
  21. field — farmland
  22. chip — for betting
  23. field — for sport
  24. firm — a company

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