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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. bass — the fish
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. present — there
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — a city
  7. bass — low music
  8. content — the amount
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. face — to point toward
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. face — to confront
  13. present — a gift
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. pound — a weight
  17. content — happy
  18. branch — a division
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. present — the time now
  24. face — part of the head

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