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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: bat · chest · content · can · row · capital · fall · jam

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. capital — money
  3. can — a tin
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — a box
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. fall — the season
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — happy
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. can — to be able to
  17. can — a tin
  18. bat — the animal
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. fall — to drop
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. row — a line
  24. chest — of your 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