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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. capital — a city
  3. file — a document
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cell — in biology
  7. content — happy
  8. file — a tool
  9. drill — the tool
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. content — the amount
  12. capital — money
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. bat — the animal
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. drill — army training
  17. season — in sport
  18. drill — a practice
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. file — a line of people
  23. cell — a phone
  24. season — of the year

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