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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. capital — money
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. scale — in music
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — magic
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. capital — a city
  13. scale — size or range
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. spell — a short time
  18. pitch — completely

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