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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: track · capital · rush · branch · squash · tear · cue · court

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. court — of a king
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — hurry
  5. track — a path
  6. tear — from crying
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. cue — a hint
  10. cue — for pool
  11. branch — a division
  12. squash — to crush
  13. capital — money
  14. court — of law
  15. track — a song
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. squash — the sport
  18. track — to keep track
  19. court — for sport
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. cue — a signal
  24. branch — of a tree

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