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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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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: cell · content · wound · pound · capital · can · kid · plane

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. kid — child
  3. can — to be able to
  4. can — a tin
  5. wound — an injury
  6. content — the amount
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. kid — to tease
  10. plane — a tool
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. can — a tin
  20. pound — a weight
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. capital — a city
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. cell — in biology

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