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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a city
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. clip — to cut
  5. pitch — completely
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. field — farmland
  9. content — happy
  10. field — a subject
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. content — the amount
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. clip — for paper
  19. degree — from a university
  20. clip — a video
  21. field — for sport
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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