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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: court · bass · field · chip · capital · pop · wound · key

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bass — low music
  5. field — for sport
  6. pop — to visit
  7. capital — a city
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pop — soda
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bass — the fish
  13. pop — music
  14. key — in music
  15. capital — money
  16. court — for sport
  17. chip — for betting
  18. court — of law
  19. chip — to eat
  20. field — farmland
  21. key — the most important part
  22. field — a subject
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. court — of a king

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