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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. land — ground
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. court — for sport
  6. current — happening now
  7. current — electric
  8. current — of water
  9. cell — a phone
  10. capital — a city
  11. cell — in biology
  12. land — to come down
  13. staff — a stick
  14. staff — employees
  15. bass — the fish
  16. court — of law
  17. shower — to wash
  18. capital — money
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. staff — employees
  22. bass — low music
  23. shower — rain
  24. land — a country

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