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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — money
  3. track — a song
  4. court — for sport
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. sharp — clever
  7. prune — to trim
  8. roll — a cake
  9. court — of law
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. march — the month
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. prune — to trim
  17. track — a path
  18. court — of a king
  19. roll — a list
  20. march — the month
  21. track — to keep track
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. march — 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