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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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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 · club · tear · content · game · vault · perch · bass

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. club — for dancing
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. content — happy
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bass — the fish
  10. perch — the fish
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. content — the amount
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — wild animals
  17. vault — a safe
  18. game — a match
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — money
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. tear — to rip
  23. club — a group
  24. club — for golf

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