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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. content — the amount
  3. lean — to bend
  4. content — happy
  5. cell — a phone
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. hand — help
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. capital — money
  10. cell — in biology
  11. capital — a city
  12. lean — thin
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. spring — of water
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. hand — in cards
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. pitch — completely

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