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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. court — of a king
  3. snap — to click
  4. cue — a signal
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. bound — certain
  8. cue — a hint
  9. cue — for pool
  10. wind — moving air
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a city
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — tied together
  16. game — a match
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. court — for sport
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. court — of law

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