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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: cap · tear · row · ground · calf · pop · court · capital

  1. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. tear — from crying
  3. ground — the earth
  4. cap — a hat
  5. pop — music
  6. row — a line
  7. cap — a lid
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. cap — of ice
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — a position
  12. court — of a king
  13. tear — from crying
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. pop — to visit
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of law
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pop — soda
  23. tear — to rip
  24. row — to paddle

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