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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. capital — a city
  5. degree — from a university
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. capital — money
  8. content — the amount
  9. land — to come down
  10. scale — in music
  11. land — a country
  12. land — ground
  13. fork — in a road
  14. scale — size or range
  15. rash — hasty
  16. content — happy
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. rash — a series
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. lean — to bend
  24. fork — to eat with

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