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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. firm — a company
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. firm — decided
  5. content — happy
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. season — in sport
  9. season — of the year
  10. kid — child
  11. capital — a city
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. capital — money
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. content — the amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. degree — an amount
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. degree — from a university
  21. kid — to tease
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. firm — steady
  24. content — videos and posts

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