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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: march · pop · court · coach · fork · capital · hand · club

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — for sport
  4. club — for golf
  5. capital — money
  6. fork — in a road
  7. march — the month
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. club — for dancing
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. hand — help
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. court — of law
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. pop — music
  19. club — a group
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. pop — soda
  23. pop — to visit
  24. fork — a garden tool

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