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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 120 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. bank — for money
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bat — the animal
  8. content — the amount
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. root — the cause
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — to wash
  17. root — of a plant
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bank — for money
  22. capital — a city
  23. bank — of a river
  24. root — of a word

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