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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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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: pit · court · capital · coach · mouse · band · race · wound

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. court — for sport
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. band — a ring
  5. pit — in a race
  6. capital — money
  7. wound — an injury
  8. band — a music group
  9. pit — a hole
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. race — humankind
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. court — of a king
  16. wound — an injury
  17. court — of law
  18. race — the arms race
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. race — a contest
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. mouse — the animal

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