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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. present — a gift
  5. capital — a city
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. content — the amount
  8. present — the time now
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. dip — to sink
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. clip — to cut
  16. present — there
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. band — a ring
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. clip — for paper
  21. band — a music group
  22. clip — a video
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — money

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