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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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. pitcher — a jug
  4. current — electric
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. season — of the year
  8. staff — a stick
  9. staff — employees
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. cold — not warm
  12. current — of water
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. sharp — clever
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. current — happening now
  17. season — in sport
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — an illness
  24. capital — a city

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