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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: lie · trunk · content · mate · coach · game · pound · capital

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. mate — a partner
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. content — the amount
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mate — a friend
  13. game — a match
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. game — wild animals
  16. pound — a weight
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. lie — to recline
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. mate — to breed
  21. capital — a city
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. capital — money

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