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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 · bore · content · date · swing · saw · capital · race

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. capital — a city
  3. race — humankind
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. swing — to play on
  6. saw — the tool
  7. race — the arms race
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. date — the fruit
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. race — a contest
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bore — to tire
  14. swing — in golf
  15. hand — help
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — money
  18. hand — in cards
  19. swing — music
  20. saw — the tool
  21. content — happy
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. content — the amount
  24. hand — part of the body

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