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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — happy
  5. clip — a video
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — rain
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. capital — a city
  13. wake — a trail
  14. clip — for paper
  15. game — wild animals
  16. rest — what's left
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — a match
  19. rest — what's left
  20. chair — a leader
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. rest — a break
  24. clip — to cut

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