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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 116 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: kid · staff · fall · bass · content · capital

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. content — happy
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — the season
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. kid — child
  9. fall — to drop
  10. kid — to tease
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — a stick
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. capital — money
  15. bass — low music
  16. staff — employees
  17. content — the amount
  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