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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. kid — to tease
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. capital — money
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. bound — certain
  7. key — for a lock
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. hand — help
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. capital — a city
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — obliged
  15. key — in music
  16. stand — to bear
  17. kid — child
  18. key — the most important part
  19. hand — in cards
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. content — the amount
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. hand — part of the body

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