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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: perch · tear · court · rock · capital · hide · key · root

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. key — the most important part
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. capital — money
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of a king
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. rock — music
  9. key — in music
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rock — a stone
  16. root — of a word
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. root — of a plant
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — the fish
  21. capital — a city
  22. key — for a lock
  23. root — the cause
  24. tear — from crying

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