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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 124 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. pit — a hole
  4. pit — in a race
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. press — newspapers
  9. capital — a city
  10. content — happy
  11. mine — for digging
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. content — the amount
  14. current — happening now
  15. press — a publisher
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. current — of water
  18. pound — a weight
  19. press — to push
  20. bat — the animal
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. current — electric
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. capital — money

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