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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: fan · wound · mark · content · capital · vault · mine · hand

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. wound — an injury
  4. hand — help
  5. content — happy
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. content — the amount
  9. capital — a city
  10. mark — a grade
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — for digging
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. vault — a safe
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mark — a trace
  23. wound — an injury
  24. hand — in cards

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