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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: wind · content · rock · file · calf · stick · saw · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. file — a document
  3. content — happy
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. file — a tool
  6. rock — music
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. content — the amount
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. wind — moving air
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. wind — moving air
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. rock — a stone
  18. capital — money
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. saw — the tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. saw — the tool

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