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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: court · bear · rule · capital · saw · chair

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. capital — a city
  3. chair — a leader
  4. saw — the tool
  5. court — of a king
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. court — for sport
  8. rule — a law
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bear — the animal
  12. capital — money
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. rule — government
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. bear — the animal

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