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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 124 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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. game — a match
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. capital — money
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. object — a thing
  9. content — the amount
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. capital — a city
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. content — happy
  17. mine — for digging
  18. object — an aim
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. object — to protest
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bat — the animal
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mine — belonging to me

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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