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

Word bank: rule · wave · bank · content · capital · cold

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. rule — government
  3. content — the amount
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. bank — for money
  8. cold — an illness
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bank — for money
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — money
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. content — happy
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bank — of a river

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