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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. cell — a phone
  3. net — in sport
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — a match
  6. capital — a city
  7. court — of law
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. court — of a king
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. bass — the fish
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. kick — in football
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. net — after costs
  17. cell — in biology
  18. court — for sport
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bass — low music
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. capital — money
  24. net — for catching

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