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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 120 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 · pitcher · cap · field · tube · land · lash · content

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. field — farmland
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. tube — the underground
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. content — happy
  10. field — a subject
  11. content — the amount
  12. land — ground
  13. capital — money
  14. field — for sport
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. land — a country
  17. cap — a lid
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. land — to come down
  20. capital — a city
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cap — a hat
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. tube — a container

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