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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. shower — to wash
  3. swing — music
  4. content — happy
  5. wake — a trail
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. swing — to play on
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. chest — of your body
  10. shower — rain
  11. chest — a box
  12. capital — a city
  13. chest — of your body
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. content — the amount
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. land — ground
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. swing — in golf
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. capital — money

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