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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 120 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: charge · capital · court · snap · mouse · land · band · cold

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. court — of a king
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to click
  6. charge — in control
  7. charge — electricity
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — ground
  11. band — a music group
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. court — for sport
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. land — a country
  16. capital — a city
  17. band — a ring
  18. cold — not warm
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. cold — an illness
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. charge — a price
  24. court — of law

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