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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: capital · foot · track · court · season · clip · dip · row

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. court — of law
  5. track — a path
  6. capital — money
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. foot — a measure
  13. track — to keep track
  14. capital — a city
  15. row — a line
  16. court — for sport
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. track — a song
  19. season — of the year
  20. court — of a king
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — to paddle
  23. dip — to sink
  24. clip — to cut

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