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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. court — of a king
  3. content — happy
  4. fall — the season
  5. capital — money
  6. tube — the underground
  7. fall — to drop
  8. tube — a container
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. fall — to drop
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. court — of law
  15. cap — a hat
  16. content — the amount
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — the animal
  20. capital — a city
  21. cap — a lid
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. court — for sport

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