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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. content — the amount
  3. capital — a city
  4. game — wild animals
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. scale — size or range
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. game — a match
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. file — a document
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. scale — in music
  15. content — happy
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. file — a tool
  19. capital — money
  20. file — a line of people
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. game — a kind of play

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