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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fall · mate · plane · capital · content · lean · straw · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. capital — money
  3. content — happy
  4. capital — a city
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. mate — to breed
  8. lean — to bend
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. lean — thin
  12. mate — a friend
  13. fall — the season
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. spell — a short time
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. spell — magic
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. plane — a tool
  24. mate — a partner

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