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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. court — of a king
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. swing — to play on
  5. hand — help
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. object — an aim
  9. sharp — clever
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. court — for sport
  12. chip — for betting
  13. object — to protest
  14. capital — a city
  15. object — a thing
  16. wax — to grow
  17. hand — in cards
  18. swing — in golf
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. court — of law
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. capital — money
  23. swing — music
  24. chip — to eat

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