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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: track · foot · bank · last · court · clip · capital · pitcher

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bank — for money
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. track — a song
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. foot — a measure
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. capital — a city
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bank — for money
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. capital — money
  14. court — of a king
  15. last — finally
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — final
  18. court — for sport
  19. clip — a video
  20. bank — of a river
  21. court — of law
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. track — a path
  24. capital — a big letter

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