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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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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: capital · spring · bay · clip · court · mouse · arm · last

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. spring — of water
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. clip — to cut
  5. last — final
  6. court — of a king
  7. capital — a city
  8. spring — a coil
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. last — to go on
  12. court — for sport
  13. spring — the season
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. court — of law
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. clip — a video
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. capital — money
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. last — finally

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