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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: capital · ground · shower · toast · lash · content · foot · bore

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. ground — crushed
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. toast — bread
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. capital — a city
  7. foot — a measure
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. content — the amount
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. shower — rain
  13. bore — to tire
  14. ground — a position
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. bore — to drill
  19. shower — to wash
  20. content — happy
  21. capital — money
  22. ground — the earth
  23. content — videos and posts
  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