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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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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: chest · capital · bowl · chip · content · spell · race · mark

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  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 — videos and posts
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. spell — a short time
  5. chest — a box
  6. mark — a grade
  7. chip — for betting
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. chest — of your body
  10. race — a contest
  11. spell — letters
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. chip — to eat
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. content — happy
  16. race — the arms race
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. race — humankind
  19. capital — a city
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. mark — a trace
  22. content — the amount
  23. spell — magic
  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