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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 120 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: kick · capital · wake · ball · court · clip · mate · pound

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. capital — a city
  3. ball — a dance
  4. clip — for paper
  5. court — of a king
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. ball — a great time
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. mate — a friend
  12. court — for sport
  13. mate — a partner
  14. pound — a weight
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. wake — a trail
  17. mate — to breed
  18. clip — a video
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. court — of law
  22. clip — to cut
  23. capital — money
  24. wake — before a funeral

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