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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. land — a country
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. content — happy
  5. capital — money
  6. march — the month
  7. capital — a city
  8. land — ground
  9. content — the amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cap — a hat
  14. degree — from a university
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. land — to come down
  17. march — music
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. cap — of ice
  20. saw — the tool
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. march — the month
  23. cap — a lid
  24. coach — a trainer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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