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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: content · racket · field · capital · mine · perch · sharp · march

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. march — music
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. content — happy
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. field — a subject
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. march — the month
  13. field — for sport
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. field — farmland
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. content — the amount
  18. perch — the fish
  19. march — the month
  20. capital — money
  21. sharp — clever
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. sharp — exactly

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