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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: court · firm · ground · capital · bear · last · can · mine

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — finally
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. capital — money
  7. can — to be able to
  8. can — a tin
  9. bear — the animal
  10. court — of law
  11. firm — a company
  12. ground — crushed
  13. last — final
  14. capital — a city
  15. firm — steady
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. firm — decided
  20. bear — the animal
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — the earth
  24. can — a tin

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