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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. perch — the fish
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. press — to push
  6. firm — a company
  7. press — a publisher
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. firm — decided
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. key — the most important part
  14. key — for a lock
  15. roll — a list
  16. cold — not warm
  17. roll — a cake
  18. capital — a city
  19. press — newspapers
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. key — in music
  23. capital — money
  24. firm — steady

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