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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. bear — the animal
  6. pass — a permit
  7. ground — a position
  8. wake — a trail
  9. capital — money
  10. content — happy
  11. hand — help
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. ground — the earth
  14. bear — the animal
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. content — the amount
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. hand — in cards
  22. ground — crushed
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pass — to spend time

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