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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: rock · hand · capital · content · court · file · fall · foot

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. fall — to drop
  5. file — a tool
  6. foot — a measure
  7. rock — music
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. hand — in cards
  10. rock — a stone
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. file — a line of people
  14. capital — a city
  15. hand — help
  16. file — a document
  17. content — the amount
  18. court — for sport
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — happy
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. court — of a king
  23. court — of law
  24. foot — the bottom

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