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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: mouse · pass · bark · court · chip · capital · bat · ground

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. bark — to shout
  4. court — for sport
  5. ground — crushed
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. chip — for betting
  10. capital — a city
  11. ground — the earth
  12. chip — to eat
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. court — of law
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. pass — a permit
  20. capital — money
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. ground — a position
  24. pass — to spend time

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