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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 · ball · mate · sharp · capital · tube · rock · content

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. mate — to breed
  3. content — the amount
  4. capital — a city
  5. mate — a friend
  6. ball — a dance
  7. capital — money
  8. rock — music
  9. tube — the underground
  10. content — happy
  11. shower — to wash
  12. mate — a partner
  13. ball — a great time
  14. rock — a stone
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — rain
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. tube — a container
  24. sharp — clever

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