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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. row — to paddle
  5. mine — for digging
  6. content — the amount
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. row — a line
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. capital — money
  14. lie — to recline
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. race — a contest
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a line of people
  19. capital — a city
  20. race — humankind
  21. season — in sport
  22. content — happy
  23. file — a document
  24. race — the arms race

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