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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: capital · cold · arm · craft · court · clip · season · stand

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. cold — an illness
  3. court — of law
  4. clip — a video
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. cold — not warm
  9. craft — a skill
  10. stand — to bear
  11. clip — to cut
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. season — in sport
  14. craft — boats
  15. capital — a city
  16. court — for sport
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. court — of a king
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. season — of the year
  22. capital — money
  23. clip — for paper
  24. stand — for spectators

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