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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: wind · straw · mouse · capital · ball · court · game · present

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. capital — a city
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. game — wild animals
  6. ball — a dance
  7. present — the time now
  8. court — of law
  9. wind — moving air
  10. court — for sport
  11. ball — a great time
  12. capital — money
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. present — a gift
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. game — a match
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. wind — moving air
  23. present — there
  24. game — a kind of play

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