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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: kid · court · mine · perch · wind · bass · ball · capital

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. court — of a king
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bass — the fish
  8. bass — low music
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. wind — moving air
  11. ball — a dance
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. capital — money
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. ball — a great time
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — to tease
  19. capital — a city
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. court — for sport
  22. court — of law
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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