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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.

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: content · sharp · bat · land · fall · saw · capital · cold

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. cold — not warm
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cold — an illness
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. saw — the tool
  14. land — ground
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. content — the amount
  19. capital — a city
  20. sharp — clever
  21. bat — the animal
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fall — the season
  24. content — happy

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