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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: capital · content · bear · stock · arm · race · court · wound

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. court — for sport
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. bear — the animal
  5. race — humankind
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — of law
  10. bear — the animal
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. content — the amount
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. capital — money
  20. stock — shares
  21. stock — goods
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. arm — part of the body

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