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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pop — music
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. pop — to visit
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. court — for sport
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — a position
  11. pop — soda
  12. mark — a trace
  13. capital — a city
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — to recline
  16. court — of a king
  17. cold — an illness
  18. capital — money
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. ground — crushed
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. mark — a grade

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