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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. sharp — clever
  5. shower — to wash
  6. content — happy
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. clip — a video
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a city
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. clip — for paper
  18. content — the amount
  19. clip — to cut
  20. shower — rain
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. mine — for digging

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