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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. lean — thin
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. content — happy
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. mine — for digging
  8. saw — the tool
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. content — the amount
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. pitch — completely
  15. saw — the tool
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. lean — to bend
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. capital — a big letter

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