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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: season · charge · swing · content · capital · court · bore · land

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. court — for sport
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. capital — money
  6. content — the amount
  7. charge — a price
  8. swing — in golf
  9. content — happy
  10. season — in sport
  11. season — of the year
  12. bore — to tire
  13. swing — to play on
  14. charge — electricity
  15. bore — to drill
  16. charge — in control
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. swing — music
  19. land — to come down
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. court — of a king
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. capital — a city
  24. court — of law

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