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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: mate · stock · pit · wind · court · board · last · capital

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. last — final
  3. capital — money
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. court — of a king
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mate — a friend
  8. stock — shares
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. pit — in a race
  11. mate — to breed
  12. board — to get on
  13. stock — goods
  14. mate — a partner
  15. board — a committee
  16. last — finally
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. wind — moving air
  19. court — of law
  20. last — to go on
  21. pit — a hole
  22. court — for sport
  23. capital — a city
  24. wind — to turn a key

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