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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: roll · row · march · court · capital · pit · game · current

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  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. current — happening now
  2. march — the month
  3. pit — a hole
  4. capital — a city
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. march — the month
  8. roll — a cake
  9. court — of law
  10. game — a match
  11. current — electric
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. current — of water
  14. pit — in a race
  15. game — wild animals
  16. march — music
  17. row — a line
  18. capital — money
  19. court — for sport
  20. roll — a list
  21. row — to paddle
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. roll — on a roll
  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