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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: temple · court · kid · kick · capital · hand · nail · scale

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. hand — in cards
  5. capital — money
  6. scale — in music
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. scale — size or range
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. capital — a city
  13. hand — help
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — in football
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. court — of a king
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. kid — child
  22. court — of law
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. nail — for a hammer

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