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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. content — happy
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. rule — government
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. capital — a city
  7. content — the amount
  8. capital — money
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. hand — help
  15. rule — a law
  16. wound — an injury
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. fork — in a road
  20. foot — a measure
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fork — a garden tool

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