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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: tear · content · land · court · cabinet · capital · dip · pitcher

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. content — happy
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. tear — to rip
  8. capital — money
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. tear — from crying
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. tear — from crying
  13. court — of law
  14. dip — to sink
  15. land — ground
  16. capital — a city
  17. content — the amount
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. land — a country
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. land — to come down

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