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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 116 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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. last — final
  3. content — happy
  4. capital — money
  5. last — to go on
  6. cold — an illness
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. saw — the tool
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. saw — the tool
  12. last — finally
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — the amount
  15. capital — a city
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wake — a trail
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. scale — size or range
  24. cold — not warm

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