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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mine · cold · game · can · court · plane · net · capital

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — a tin
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. net — in sport
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. plane — a tool
  10. court — of a king
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. can — to be able to
  13. capital — a city
  14. court — for sport
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. game — a match
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. court — of law
  19. net — for catching
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. mine — for digging
  23. cold — an illness
  24. game — wild animals

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