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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. swing — in golf
  3. rash — a series
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — the amount
  6. rash — hasty
  7. face — to confront
  8. capital — money
  9. content — happy
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. net — for catching
  12. swing — to play on
  13. march — music
  14. face — to point toward
  15. face — part of the head
  16. net — after costs
  17. capital — a city
  18. swing — music
  19. cap — of ice
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. march — the month
  22. cap — a lid
  23. cap — a hat
  24. march — the month

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