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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. tear — from crying
  4. track — a path
  5. cold — an illness
  6. capital — a city
  7. mate — to breed
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bank — for money
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. track — a song
  13. track — to keep track
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bank — for money
  16. content — happy
  17. mate — a partner
  18. bank — of a river
  19. content — the amount
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. mate — a friend
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. cold — the Cold War

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