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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.

Make a worksheet

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: staff · capital · mine · hide · march · game · content · tear

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. march — music
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. mine — for digging
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. march — the month
  7. capital — money
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. tear — to rip
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. content — the amount
  12. march — the month
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — a stick
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. tear — from crying
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — a match
  20. capital — a city
  21. tear — from crying
  22. staff — employees
  23. content — happy
  24. mine — an explosive

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