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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. capital — a city
  3. deal — to handle
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — hasty
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. spell — magic
  8. cue — a signal
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. spell — letters
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. bat — the animal
  13. pit — a hole
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. spell — a short time
  16. content — the amount
  17. cue — for pool
  18. pit — in a race
  19. rash — a series
  20. content — happy
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — money
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. cue — a hint

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