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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: wound · deal · last · mate · capital · pop · rule · court

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. rule — a law
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. court — of a king
  5. last — final
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. mate — a friend
  8. deal — to handle
  9. pop — to visit
  10. court — of law
  11. capital — money
  12. pop — soda
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. capital — a city
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. last — finally
  18. mate — to breed
  19. last — to go on
  20. court — for sport
  21. mate — a partner
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pop — music

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