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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. court — of law
  4. capital — money
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. pound — a weight
  9. capital — a city
  10. row — a line
  11. mine — for digging
  12. spring — the season
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. current — electric
  15. current — of water
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. spring — a coil
  18. court — of a king
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. spring — of water
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. current — happening now
  24. row — to paddle

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