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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 · clip · capital · dip · calf · scale · suit

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. last — final
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. scale — size or range
  5. suit — in cards
  6. last — finally
  7. last — to go on
  8. dip — to sink
  9. suit — clothes
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. suit — to fit
  13. capital — a city
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. scale — in music
  17. clip — to cut
  18. capital — money
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. court — of a king
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. court — of law
  24. scale — for weighing

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