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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 116 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. court — of law
  4. court — of a king
  5. capital — money
  6. mate — a friend
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. field — a subject
  9. row — to paddle
  10. rule — a law
  11. field — for sport
  12. mate — a partner
  13. court — for sport
  14. spring — of water
  15. field — farmland
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — government
  18. spring — the season
  19. bound — tied together
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bound — obliged
  22. mate — to breed
  23. bound — certain
  24. row — a line

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