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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: cap · net · club · court · capital · field · cell · toast

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. toast — bread
  3. club — for golf
  4. court — for sport
  5. net — after costs
  6. court — of law
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. net — for catching
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. club — a group
  11. cell — in biology
  12. field — farmland
  13. court — of a king
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. net — in sport
  18. capital — a city
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cap — a lid
  22. club — for dancing
  23. cap — of ice
  24. capital — money

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