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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: capital · mine · pop · content · cap · mark · ground · bank

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mark — a grade
  4. bank — of a river
  5. pop — music
  6. cap — a hat
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. cap — of ice
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. capital — a city
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. ground — crushed
  13. bank — for money
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — a position
  16. pop — to visit
  17. cap — a lid
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bank — for money
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — money
  22. content — happy
  23. mark — a trace
  24. content — the amount

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