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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: chair · season · capital · cell · row · temple · key · content

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. content — the amount
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. season — of the year
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. key — the most important part
  9. cell — in biology
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. season — in sport
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. chair — a leader
  15. key — for a lock
  16. capital — money
  17. content — happy
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. row — to paddle
  20. capital — a city
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. cell — a phone
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. row — a line

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