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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cap — a hat
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. fine — high quality
  6. branch — a division
  7. ground — crushed
  8. fine — all right
  9. swing — to play on
  10. swing — in golf
  11. ground — the earth
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. capital — a city
  16. ground — a position
  17. cap — a lid
  18. cue — a signal
  19. cold — an illness
  20. swing — music
  21. cap — of ice
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. cue — a hint
  24. cue — for pool

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