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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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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 · pitch · root · capital · racket · kid · prune · safe

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. prune — to trim
  3. capital — a city
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. root — the cause
  6. root — of a word
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. pitch — completely
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. capital — money
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. court — of law
  14. kid — child
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. court — of a king
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. root — of a plant
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. kid — to tease
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. prune — to trim

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