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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: court · root · pop · race · capital · mark · swing · last

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. court — of a king
  3. capital — a city
  4. swing — in golf
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. root — of a word
  7. mark — a trace
  8. mark — a grade
  9. race — a contest
  10. last — to go on
  11. root — the cause
  12. pop — soda
  13. capital — money
  14. last — final
  15. pop — music
  16. last — finally
  17. race — the arms race
  18. root — of a plant
  19. court — of law
  20. swing — music
  21. swing — to play on
  22. pop — to visit
  23. race — humankind
  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