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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 120 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: row · capital · fine · fall · court · chest · saw · net

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — of law
  3. row — a line
  4. chest — of your body
  5. saw — the tool
  6. capital — money
  7. fine — high quality
  8. capital — a city
  9. fall — to drop
  10. chest — of your body
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. net — after costs
  13. chest — a box
  14. net — for catching
  15. court — for sport
  16. saw — the tool
  17. fine — all right
  18. net — in sport
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. row — to paddle
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. fine — a penalty

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