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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. game — a match
  3. capital — a city
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. court — of law
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cap — a hat
  11. vault — a safe
  12. cap — of ice
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. game — wild animals
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. capital — money
  17. cap — a lid
  18. bat — the animal
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the sport
  24. court — for sport

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