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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. chest — of your body
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. scale — size or range
  8. spring — of water
  9. scale — in music
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. capital — money
  13. chest — a box
  14. spring — the season
  15. content — the amount
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spring — a coil
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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