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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 · game · firm · content · pitcher · root · capital · deal

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. firm — steady
  4. shower — rain
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. root — of a plant
  7. content — the amount
  8. game — wild animals
  9. root — of a word
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. root — the cause
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. game — a match
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. capital — a city
  16. firm — a company
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. capital — money
  20. firm — decided
  21. deal — to handle
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. deal — an agreement

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