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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cap — a lid
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. net — after costs
  6. cap — a hat
  7. fall — to drop
  8. capital — a city
  9. spell — letters
  10. fall — to drop
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. capital — money
  13. spell — magic
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. game — a match
  16. game — wild animals
  17. content — the amount
  18. fall — the season
  19. net — for catching
  20. spell — a short time
  21. net — in sport
  22. content — happy
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. content — videos and posts

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