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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. staff — employees
  3. capital — money
  4. kid — child
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. cap — a hat
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. stand — to bear
  14. mine — for digging
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. cap — a lid
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. capital — a city
  19. deal — to handle
  20. kid — to tease
  21. staff — employees
  22. staff — a stick
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. trunk — of a car

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