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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. content — the amount
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. saw — the tool
  6. degree — from a university
  7. band — a music group
  8. scale — size or range
  9. court — of a king
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. ball — a dance
  12. capital — a city
  13. band — a ring
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. court — of law
  16. ball — a great time
  17. degree — temperature
  18. content — happy
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. scale — in music
  21. degree — an amount
  22. capital — money
  23. saw — the tool
  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