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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. cold — not warm
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. bulb — for light
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. capital — money
  10. wake — a trail
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. date — the fruit
  18. lean — thin
  19. rush — hurry
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. cold — an illness
  22. lean — to bend
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bulb — for light

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