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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. swing — to play on
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. capital — a city
  6. rule — a law
  7. content — the amount
  8. mate — a partner
  9. swing — in golf
  10. mate — a friend
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. file — a line of people
  13. capital — money
  14. rule — government
  15. content — happy
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a tool
  19. mate — to breed
  20. bulb — for light
  21. swing — music
  22. fine — high quality
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. bulb — for light

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