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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. net — in sport
  3. march — the month
  4. cap — a lid
  5. court — of a king
  6. net — for catching
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — of ice
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — a city
  12. date — the fruit
  13. court — for sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. march — music
  16. staff — a stick
  17. staff — employees
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a document
  20. march — the month
  21. staff — employees
  22. file — a tool
  23. court — of law
  24. date — on the calendar

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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