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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: trunk · staff · capital · court · fine · face · content · pitcher

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. capital — a city
  3. staff — employees
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. staff — a stick
  6. court — of law
  7. content — happy
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. face — to point toward
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. staff — employees
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. capital — money
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. face — to confront
  17. fine — all right
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. content — the amount
  20. court — of a king
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. fine — high quality
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. face — part of the head

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