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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. wind — moving air
  3. content — the amount
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. content — happy
  6. kid — child
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rock — a stone
  9. capital — money
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. kid — to tease
  12. bank — for money
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. bank — of a river
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. bank — for money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. capital — a city
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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