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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: ball · cell · land · capital · wake · court · cabinet · prune

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. cell — a phone
  3. land — a country
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. wake — a trail
  6. land — ground
  7. court — for sport
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. capital — money
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. ball — a great time
  14. prune — to trim
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. capital — a city
  18. ball — a dance
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. court — of law
  21. land — to come down
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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