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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 120 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: mouse · court · capital · rush · bay · spring · land · straw

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. spring — a coil
  3. land — ground
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. capital — money
  8. court — of a king
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. spring — the season
  11. rush — hurry
  12. court — for sport
  13. capital — a city
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. land — a country
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. spring — of water
  23. land — to come down
  24. court — of law

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