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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: hand · spring · content · scale · wind · bound · capital · root

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. wind — moving air
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bound — obliged
  5. root — of a word
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bound — tied together
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. spring — of water
  10. bound — certain
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. scale — in music
  13. spring — the season
  14. root — of a plant
  15. content — happy
  16. wind — moving air
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a city
  20. root — the cause
  21. scale — size or range
  22. content — the amount
  23. spring — a coil
  24. hand — help

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