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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: wound · racket · stand · court · current · cell · bowl · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. wound — an injury
  3. cell — in biology
  4. court — for sport
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. court — of a king
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. current — of water
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. current — happening now
  17. stand — to bear
  18. court — of law
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. current — electric
  21. cell — a phone
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bowl — a football final

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