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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: present · content · date · capital · pitcher · hide · branch · mark

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. branch — a division
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. mark — a trace
  5. present — a gift
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. capital — money
  10. mark — a grade
  11. date — the fruit
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. present — the time now
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. content — the amount
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. capital — a city
  24. present — there

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