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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. net — in sport
  3. pass — a permit
  4. court — of a king
  5. lie — to recline
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. pop — to visit
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. court — for sport
  12. capital — money
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. court — of law
  15. land — a country
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. land — to come down
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. net — for catching
  20. land — ground
  21. pop — music
  22. net — after costs
  23. pop — soda
  24. capital — a city

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