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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. mug — to rob
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. staff — a stick
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. hand — in cards
  8. court — for sport
  9. hand — help
  10. content — the amount
  11. court — of a king
  12. lean — thin
  13. staff — employees
  14. squash — the sport
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. lean — to bend
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a city
  19. mug — a cup
  20. mug — a face
  21. court — of law
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. squash — to crush

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