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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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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — a city
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. season — of the year
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. land — to come down
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. season — in sport
  15. capital — money
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. land — a country
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. rock — music
  21. rock — a stone
  22. land — ground
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. mine — for digging

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