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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 · content · rest · date · net · bark · rash · cell

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. net — in sport
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rash — hasty
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. rash — a series
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cell — in biology
  10. rest — what's left
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. rest — a break
  13. net — after costs
  14. bark — to shout
  15. capital — money
  16. content — happy
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. content — the amount
  19. capital — a city
  20. date — the fruit
  21. net — for catching
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cell — a phone

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