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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. court — for sport
  3. bound — obliged
  4. can — to be able to
  5. bound — tied together
  6. court — of law
  7. can — a tin
  8. game — a match
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — a city
  11. row — a line
  12. court — of a king
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — in biology
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. stem — to come from
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bound — certain
  20. cell — a phone
  21. row — to paddle
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. can — a tin
  24. stem — a stem cell

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