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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wind — moving air
  6. saw — the tool
  7. capital — a city
  8. saw — the tool
  9. content — happy
  10. wind — moving air
  11. capital — money
  12. pop — music
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. pop — to visit
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — from a university
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — the fish
  19. fall — to drop
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. content — the amount
  22. fall — the season
  23. pop — soda
  24. degree — temperature

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