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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: bat · content · can · board · capital · pitcher · cold · bore

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. can — a tin
  3. capital — a city
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bat — the animal
  7. capital — money
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. board — a committee
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. can — to be able to
  12. content — happy
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bore — to tire
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. can — a tin
  17. content — the amount
  18. board — to get on
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bore — to drill
  24. cold — an illness

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