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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. capital — money
  3. court — of a king
  4. capital — a city
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — a stick
  7. mark — a grade
  8. court — for sport
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. court — of law
  12. pop — to visit
  13. spring — the season
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. mark — a trace
  16. spring — a coil
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a tool
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. pop — soda
  22. pop — music
  23. file — a line of people
  24. staff — employees

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