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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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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: capital · bank · fork · pass · ball · perch · content · kid

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. content — happy
  3. ball — a dance
  4. capital — money
  5. ball — a great time
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. kid — to tease
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. content — the amount
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. capital — a city
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. kid — child
  17. bank — for money
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. bank — of a river
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. fork — in a road
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. pass — a permit
  24. perch — the fish

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