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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: ground · face · perch · content · capital · present · court · prune

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. perch — the fish
  3. ground — crushed
  4. court — of law
  5. ground — a position
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — a city
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. ground — the earth
  12. content — happy
  13. face — to point toward
  14. present — the time now
  15. face — to confront
  16. prune — to trim
  17. capital — money
  18. present — there
  19. prune — to trim
  20. content — the amount
  21. face — part of the head
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. present — a gift
  24. court — for sport

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