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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. row — a line
  2. season — in sport
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — a city
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. fine — all right
  10. content — happy
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. season — of the year
  13. fine — high quality
  14. fork — in a road
  15. row — to paddle
  16. bass — low music
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. bass — the fish
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. capital — money
  23. content — videos and posts
  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