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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of a king
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. capital — a city
  5. row — a line
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. club — for golf
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bank — of a river
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. capital — money
  15. row — to paddle
  16. club — a group
  17. bank — for money
  18. dip — to sink
  19. bank — for money
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — a match
  22. club — for dancing
  23. court — of law
  24. game — wild animals

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