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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. ball — a great time
  4. ball — a dance
  5. content — happy
  6. capital — a city
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. bat — the animal
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. content — the amount
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. pit — in a race
  19. capital — money
  20. dip — to sink
  21. craft — boats
  22. pit — a hole
  23. craft — a skill
  24. bat — in an idiom

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