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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 · perch · cold · foot · racket · bore · stem · court

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bore — to tire
  5. bore — to drill
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. capital — a city
  9. stem — to come from
  10. cold — an illness
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. court — of law
  13. capital — money
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. foot — a measure
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. court — for sport
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. court — of a king
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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