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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: calf · file · capital · ball · content · swing · shower · bass

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bass — the fish
  6. ball — a great time
  7. file — a tool
  8. bass — low music
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. swing — in golf
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. capital — money
  15. swing — to play on
  16. file — a document
  17. ball — a dance
  18. content — happy
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. content — the amount
  23. file — a line of people
  24. swing — music

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