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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 116 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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. mark — a grade
  4. spring — a coil
  5. race — humankind
  6. spring — of water
  7. cap — a lid
  8. rash — hasty
  9. court — of a king
  10. capital — a city
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. kick — in football
  13. spring — the season
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. capital — money
  17. race — a contest
  18. mark — a trace
  19. rash — a series
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cap — a hat
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. capital — a big letter

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