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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. kid — child
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. content — the amount
  5. capital — a city
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. wound — an injury
  8. key — for a lock
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — money
  11. board — to get on
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. kid — to tease
  15. content — happy
  16. board — a committee
  17. mine — for digging
  18. key — in music
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. key — the most important part
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pit — in a race
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. wound — an injury

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