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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: shower · content · lash · bound · mate · capital · rock · cell

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. mate — a partner
  3. rock — a stone
  4. shower — to wash
  5. mate — to breed
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. rock — music
  10. cell — a phone
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. shower — rain
  13. content — happy
  14. cell — in biology
  15. capital — money
  16. bound — certain
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. capital — a city
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bound — obliged
  22. mate — a friend
  23. content — the amount
  24. lash — an eyelash

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