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

Word bank: capital · wind · court · pass · fork · kid

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. court — for sport
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. court — of law
  8. pass — a permit
  9. kid — child
  10. capital — money
  11. kid — to tease
  12. fork — in a road
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. wind — moving air
  16. court — of a king
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. fork — to eat with

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