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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: scale · content · ground · leaves · capital · rule · fan · shower

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. shower — to wash
  3. ground — the earth
  4. capital — money
  5. content — happy
  6. scale — size or range
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. ground — crushed
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. scale — in music
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. shower — rain
  15. rule — a law
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. capital — a city
  18. rule — government
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — the amount
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. ground — a position

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