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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: rock · plane · spell · capital · fan · court · file · sharp

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. capital — money
  5. plane — a tool
  6. rock — a stone
  7. spell — magic
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — a city
  11. court — for sport
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. court — of a king
  16. file — a tool
  17. sharp — clever
  18. file — a document
  19. court — of law
  20. spell — letters
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. file — a line of people
  23. spell — a short time
  24. plane — in geometry

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