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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: bat · roll · court · foot · capital · suit · content · chair

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. bat — the animal
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. chair — a leader
  5. suit — in cards
  6. content — the amount
  7. foot — a measure
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. court — of a king
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. roll — a list
  12. court — for sport
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. suit — clothes
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. content — happy
  18. capital — money
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. roll — a cake
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. court — of law
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. suit — to fit

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