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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 · last · fine · cold · capital · content · cabinet · rest

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. fine — all right
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. rest — what's left
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. court — of a king
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. last — final
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. content — the amount
  14. court — for sport
  15. fine — high quality
  16. rest — a break
  17. last — finally
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — a city
  20. content — happy
  21. last — to go on
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rest — what's left
  24. capital — money

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