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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. content — the amount
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. row — a line
  6. date — the fruit
  7. board — to get on
  8. capital — a city
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bulb — for light
  11. capital — money
  12. bulb — for light
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. content — happy
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. board — a committee
  24. chest — of your 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