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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: shower · content · bear · bore · lean · capital · kid · sharp

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. bore — to tire
  4. bore — to drill
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. bear — the animal
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. content — happy
  10. kid — to tease
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. lean — thin
  13. shower — to wash
  14. kid — child
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bear — the animal
  20. capital — money
  21. lean — to bend
  22. sharp — clever
  23. shower — rain
  24. content — the amount

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