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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. court — of a king
  3. capital — a city
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. scale — in music
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. court — for sport
  9. kick — in football
  10. chip — to eat
  11. scale — size or range
  12. cap — a lid
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. capital — money
  16. cap — of ice
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. court — of law
  24. chip — for betting

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