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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. game — a match
  3. content — happy
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. march — music
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. capital — a city
  8. lean — thin
  9. content — the amount
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. rash — a series
  12. game — wild animals
  13. degree — temperature
  14. can — a tin
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. can — to be able to
  17. march — the month
  18. lean — to bend
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. can — a tin
  21. degree — an amount
  22. march — the month
  23. degree — from a university
  24. capital — money

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