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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. ground — a position
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — a phone
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. rest — what's left
  8. ground — crushed
  9. content — the amount
  10. rest — a break
  11. content — happy
  12. capital — a city
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. plane — a tool
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. capital — money
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. ground — the earth
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. coach — a trainer

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