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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: rule · content · mate · file · racket · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. rule — a law
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. capital — money
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. file — a tool
  9. content — the amount
  10. mate — a friend
  11. rule — government
  12. file — a document
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. content — happy
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mate — to breed
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. file — a line of people

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