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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 · race · present · date · ball · bat · tear · content

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. ball — a dance
  4. present — there
  5. bat — the animal
  6. race — humankind
  7. present — the time now
  8. race — a contest
  9. capital — money
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. present — a gift
  14. tear — from crying
  15. content — happy
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. race — the arms race
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. date — the fruit
  20. content — the amount
  21. ball — a great time
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. capital — a city

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