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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. capital — a city
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. capital — money
  6. content — happy
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. snap — to click
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. perch — the fish
  14. content — the amount
  15. ball — a great time
  16. ball — a dance
  17. game — a match
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. game — wild animals
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. perch — for a bird

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