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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 120 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. court — of law
  3. kid — child
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bear — the animal
  6. capital — money
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. hand — in cards
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. bank — for money
  12. court — of a king
  13. bank — for money
  14. bound — tied together
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. court — for sport
  18. bank — of a river
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bound — obliged
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bound — certain
  23. coach — a trainer
  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