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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: kick · pitch · cell · date · capital · content

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cell — a phone
  3. kick — in football
  4. pitch — completely
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. capital — a city
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. content — happy
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. cell — in biology
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. capital — money
  15. content — the amount
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. date — the fruit
  18. cell — in a prison

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