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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: ground · bass · craft · chair · charge · field · capital · content

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. chair — a leader
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. bass — low music
  5. field — a subject
  6. charge — electricity
  7. content — happy
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bass — the fish
  10. ground — the earth
  11. capital — a city
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. craft — boats
  15. content — the amount
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. ground — crushed
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. charge — a price
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. charge — in control
  23. capital — money
  24. craft — a skill

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