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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. content — the amount
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. kid — child
  6. fine — high quality
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. content — happy
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. capital — money
  13. field — for sport
  14. kid — to tease
  15. hand — in cards
  16. rule — government
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. field — a subject
  19. capital — a city
  20. hand — help
  21. field — farmland
  22. fine — all right
  23. rule — a law
  24. temple — side of the head

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