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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 120 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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. perch — the fish
  3. capital — money
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. field — farmland
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. race — the arms race
  8. capital — a city
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. land — to come down
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. race — humankind
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. race — a contest
  17. land — a country
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. content — the amount
  20. field — a subject
  21. land — ground
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. field — for sport
  24. perch — for a bird

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