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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: content · chest · racket · tear · chip · capital · firm · wound

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. capital — a city
  3. wound — an injury
  4. chip — to eat
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. chest — of your body
  7. tear — to rip
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. chip — for betting
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chest — of your body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. firm — a company
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. chest — a box
  19. capital — money
  20. wound — an injury
  21. firm — decided
  22. content — happy
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. firm — steady

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