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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: capital · mine · content · pit · chest · ruler

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. content — happy
  3. pit — a hole
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pit — in a race
  8. mine — for digging
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. content — the amount
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a city

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