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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 116 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: root · drill · bat · capital · land · shower · bank · content

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. capital — a city
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. land — a country
  5. shower — rain
  6. land — ground
  7. drill — the tool
  8. shower — to wash
  9. bat — the animal
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. drill — a practice
  12. drill — army training
  13. bank — for money
  14. capital — money
  15. land — to come down
  16. bank — of a river
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a plant
  19. content — happy
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. content — the amount
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. root — of a word

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