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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: chest · capital · pitcher · court · sharp · mate · rule · club

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. court — of law
  3. club — a group
  4. mate — a partner
  5. capital — money
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. mate — a friend
  8. club — for golf
  9. court — for sport
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. sharp — clever
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. capital — a city
  16. rule — government
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. rule — a law
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. mate — to breed
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. court — of a king
  23. chest — of your body
  24. club — for dancing

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