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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: land · content · capital · can · fine · stem · drill · deal

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. can — a tin
  6. fine — all right
  7. capital — money
  8. content — happy
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. can — to be able to
  11. fine — high quality
  12. land — a country
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. land — to come down
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. drill — army training
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. deal — to handle
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. land — ground
  22. can — a tin
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — the tool

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