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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 116 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: pop · squash · court · game · rule · file · pound · capital

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. capital — a city
  3. pop — music
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. court — of law
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. squash — to crush
  11. capital — money
  12. file — a tool
  13. game — a match
  14. court — for sport
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. pop — to visit
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. rule — government
  19. pop — soda
  20. rule — a law
  21. court — of a king
  22. file — a document
  23. pound — a weight
  24. game — wild animals

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