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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: stock · pitcher · march · calf · band · capital · content · file

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  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 — money
  2. capital — a city
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. band — a music group
  5. file — a line of people
  6. march — the month
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. stock — shares
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. march — the month
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. file — a tool
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. band — a ring
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. content — happy
  20. march — music
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. file — a document
  23. calf — a young animal
  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