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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. object — a thing
  4. bass — the fish
  5. object — to protest
  6. tear — to rip
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bass — low music
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. tear — from crying
  11. capital — money
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. object — an aim
  15. tear — from crying
  16. net — after costs
  17. capital — a city
  18. content — happy
  19. mate — a friend
  20. content — the amount
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. net — for catching
  23. net — in sport
  24. mate — to breed

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