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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. wake — before a funeral
  2. scale — in music
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. capital — a city
  5. scale — size or range
  6. ground — the earth
  7. content — the amount
  8. ground — a position
  9. ground — crushed
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. drill — the tool
  12. wake — a trail
  13. drill — army training
  14. drill — a practice
  15. game — a match
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. content — happy
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. content — videos and posts
  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