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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. plane — a tool
  5. capital — a city
  6. bat — the animal
  7. chip — to eat
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cell — in biology
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. content — happy
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. game — a match
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. saw — the tool
  19. chip — for betting
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. saw — the tool
  22. capital — money
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. content — the amount

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