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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. cue — a hint
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cue — for pool
  6. content — happy
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. march — music
  12. bear — the animal
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. content — the amount
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. capital — money
  18. chest — of your body
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. cue — a signal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. shower — rain
  24. mouse — the animal

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