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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: present · content · court · board · tube · capital · hand · cabinet

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. content — happy
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. court — for sport
  8. content — the amount
  9. tube — a container
  10. hand — help
  11. present — there
  12. present — a gift
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. hand — in cards
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. board — to get on
  20. tube — the underground
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. present — the time now
  23. court — of law
  24. board — a committee

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