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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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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: cabinet · bay · cold · dip · court · ball · capital · march

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. capital — a city
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. cold — an illness
  7. march — the month
  8. dip — to sink
  9. march — the month
  10. ball — a great time
  11. court — of law
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. march — music
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. court — for sport
  19. capital — money
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cold — not warm
  24. ball — a dance

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