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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: net · cap · racket · stand · capital · pound · content · race

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. content — the amount
  4. cap — of ice
  5. net — for catching
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. race — the arms race
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cap — a hat
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. stand — to bear
  13. race — a contest
  14. net — after costs
  15. net — in sport
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. race — humankind
  18. cap — a lid
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. capital — money
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. capital — a city
  23. pound — a weight
  24. capital — a big letter

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