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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. hand — help
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — for sport
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. track — to keep track
  7. mate — a friend
  8. hand — in cards
  9. mine — for digging
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rock — music
  12. stock — shares
  13. rock — a stone
  14. capital — a city
  15. mate — to breed
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. court — of law
  19. mate — a partner
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. track — a path
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. capital — money

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