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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. court — of law
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. capital — a city
  8. mate — a partner
  9. pound — a weight
  10. mate — a friend
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitch — completely
  14. tear — from crying
  15. mate — to breed
  16. tear — from crying
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. tear — to rip
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. court — of a king
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. capital — money
  24. court — for sport

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