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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: land · mark · row · capital · key · court · tear · rule

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. tear — from crying
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. mark — a grade
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. land — ground
  7. capital — money
  8. rule — government
  9. key — for a lock
  10. court — for sport
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. court — of law
  13. row — to paddle
  14. tear — to rip
  15. capital — a city
  16. key — in music
  17. row — a line
  18. mark — a trace
  19. key — the most important part
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. tear — from crying
  22. court — of a king
  23. rule — a law
  24. land — a country

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