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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. capital — money
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. pop — soda
  5. capital — a city
  6. bound — certain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pop — to visit
  10. court — of a king
  11. bound — obliged
  12. shower — rain
  13. perch — the fish
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. court — of law
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. bound — tied together
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pop — music

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