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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: pop · mate · shower · content · row · pound · lean · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. shower — rain
  4. pop — music
  5. mate — a friend
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. content — happy
  8. lean — thin
  9. row — to paddle
  10. pop — to visit
  11. mate — to breed
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. shower — to wash
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mate — a partner
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. content — the amount
  19. lean — to bend
  20. pound — a weight
  21. capital — money
  22. pop — soda
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. row — a line

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