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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. band — a ring
  5. content — the amount
  6. rash — hasty
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. net — in sport
  10. band — a music group
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. net — after costs
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. game — wild animals
  18. content — happy
  19. net — for catching
  20. capital — money
  21. rash — a series
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. game — a match
  24. game — a kind of play

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