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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. cold — not warm
  3. capital — a city
  4. content — happy
  5. net — in sport
  6. content — the amount
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a music group
  9. capital — money
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. season — of the year
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. cold — an illness
  16. charge — electricity
  17. net — after costs
  18. season — in sport
  19. band — a ring
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. charge — in control
  24. charge — a price

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