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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. court — for sport
  5. pass — a permit
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. game — wild animals
  9. band — a ring
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. capital — a city
  13. cap — a lid
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. game — a match
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a music group
  21. capital — money
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. cap — of ice
  24. court — of a king

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