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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 120 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: wind · sharp · court · cue · current · capital · drill · spring

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. spring — a coil
  3. current — electric
  4. capital — money
  5. court — for sport
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. drill — army training
  10. court — of law
  11. current — happening now
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. spring — the season
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. spring — of water
  16. wind — moving air
  17. drill — a practice
  18. sharp — clever
  19. capital — a city
  20. cue — for pool
  21. cue — a signal
  22. cue — a hint
  23. drill — the tool
  24. current — of water

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