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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: racket · straw · saw · court · capital · last · root · bear

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — money
  3. last — to go on
  4. bear — the animal
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. bear — the animal
  7. last — final
  8. saw — the tool
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. root — the cause
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. court — of law
  15. capital — a city
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. last — finally
  18. court — for sport
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. court — of a king
  22. root — of a word
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. root — of a plant

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