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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: can · capital · kid · kick · branch · clip · content · board

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. can — to be able to
  7. clip — to cut
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kid — child
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. board — to get on
  12. clip — for paper
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. can — a tin
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. can — a tin
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — money
  20. content — happy
  21. board — a committee
  22. kick — in football
  23. branch — a division
  24. clip — a video

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