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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. content — the amount
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — letters
  13. bat — the animal
  14. capital — a city
  15. wind — moving air
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. content — happy
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. spell — magic
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wind — moving air
  23. date — the fruit
  24. wound — an injury

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