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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. court — of a king
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. pop — soda
  5. scale — in music
  6. mark — a trace
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. pop — music
  9. content — happy
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. file — a line of people
  12. content — the amount
  13. mark — a grade
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. file — a tool
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. pitch — completely
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of law
  20. capital — a city
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. file — a document
  23. capital — money
  24. pop — to visit

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