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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: shower · wave · kick · content · scale · key · field · capital

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. field — farmland
  3. kick — in football
  4. field — a subject
  5. key — the most important part
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. shower — rain
  8. scale — size or range
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. field — for sport
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. capital — a city
  13. content — happy
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — in music
  18. key — for a lock
  19. capital — money
  20. content — the amount
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. key — in music
  24. kick — with a leg

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