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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. tube — the underground
  6. stand — to bear
  7. tube — a container
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. capital — a city
  10. season — of the year
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pit — a hole
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — the fruit
  15. cold — not warm
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. season — in sport
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. pit — in a race
  23. snap — to click
  24. season — to add flavour

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