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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. scale — in music
  3. rest — a break
  4. rest — what's left
  5. hand — help
  6. capital — money
  7. hand — in cards
  8. capital — a city
  9. rest — what's left
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. pop — music
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. pop — to visit
  14. cap — a lid
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. content — the amount
  19. scale — size or range
  20. content — happy
  21. mine — for digging
  22. cap — a hat
  23. pop — soda
  24. scale — for weighing

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