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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 120 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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. board — a committee
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — to breed
  6. court — of law
  7. prune — to trim
  8. court — for sport
  9. firm — steady
  10. net — in sport
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. capital — money
  14. net — after costs
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. court — of a king
  17. board — to get on
  18. perch — the fish
  19. net — for catching
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. firm — a company
  22. capital — a city
  23. firm — decided
  24. perch — for a bird

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