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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. content — the amount
  3. capital — money
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. content — happy
  6. rock — a stone
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. file — a document
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. rock — music
  12. file — a line of people
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. file — a tool
  15. game — wild animals
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. lean — thin
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — a tool
  24. lean — to bend

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