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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: court · cell · perch · band · key · mouse · capital · fork

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. band — a music group
  3. capital — money
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. key — the most important part
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. capital — a city
  9. band — a ring
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. court — for sport
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. court — of law
  14. perch — the fish
  15. fork — in a road
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cell — a phone
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. cell — in biology
  23. key — for a lock
  24. key — in 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