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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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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: capital · fork · calf · clip · mate · court

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mate — a partner
  4. capital — money
  5. mate — a friend
  6. capital — a city
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. clip — for paper
  11. fork — in a road
  12. court — for sport
  13. clip — to cut
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — of law
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. clip — a video
  18. calf — a young 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