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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: coach · capital · mine · content · drill · spell · pitcher · cap

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. capital — a city
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cap — a lid
  8. content — happy
  9. mine — for digging
  10. drill — army training
  11. capital — money
  12. spell — a short time
  13. drill — a practice
  14. content — the amount
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — of ice
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. spell — letters
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. drill — the tool
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. capital — a big letter

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