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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. kick — in football
  4. ground — the earth
  5. present — a gift
  6. capital — a city
  7. file — a tool
  8. net — after costs
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — for catching
  11. court — for sport
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. ground — a position
  14. file — a line of people
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. pitch — completely
  17. ground — crushed
  18. present — there
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. capital — money
  21. file — a document
  22. present — the time now
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. court — of law

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