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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: rule · game · mouse · ball · foot · pop · chest · capital

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a city
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. rule — a law
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — a match
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pop — to visit
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. foot — a measure
  18. chest — a box
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. ball — a great time
  21. pop — music
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. rule — government
  24. pop — soda

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