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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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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: fork · race · date · scale · content · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. scale — size or range
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. scale — in music
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. content — happy
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — humankind
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. race — a contest
  14. fork — in a road
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. content — the amount
  17. capital — a city
  18. date — the fruit

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