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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 120 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — low music
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. rock — music
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. capital — money
  10. charge — electricity
  11. capital — a city
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. rock — a stone
  14. wax — to grow
  15. row — to paddle
  16. content — happy
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. content — the amount
  19. row — a line
  20. pitch — completely
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. charge — a price
  23. bass — the fish
  24. charge — in control

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