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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: file · content · row · spell · pit · safe · capital · land

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  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. pit — a fruit stone
  3. land — ground
  4. spell — letters
  5. capital — money
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. file — a line of people
  9. row — to paddle
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. row — a line
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. spell — magic
  19. spell — a short time
  20. content — happy
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pit — a hole
  23. pit — in a race
  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