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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rock — a stone
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. bass — low music
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — money
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. perch — the fish
  15. rock — music
  16. bass — the fish
  17. court — for sport
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cold — an illness
  20. dip — to sink
  21. ball — a great time
  22. court — of a king
  23. ball — a dance
  24. dip — to dunk

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