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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: season · content · row · capital · shower · mug · trunk · band

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. capital — money
  3. shower — to wash
  4. mug — to rob
  5. row — a line
  6. band — a ring
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. band — a music group
  12. content — happy
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — the amount
  15. mug — a cup
  16. mug — a face
  17. season — of the year
  18. capital — a city
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. band — a rubber band

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