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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: row · roll · squash · object · content · capital · patient · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. roll — a cake
  4. row — to paddle
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. capital — a city
  7. squash — the sport
  8. content — happy
  9. roll — a list
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. row — a line
  15. squash — to crush
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. content — the amount
  18. object — a thing
  19. object — to protest
  20. object — an aim
  21. capital — money
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. kid — child
  24. patient — a sick person

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