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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — money
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cap — a hat
  6. band — a ring
  7. pop — to visit
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cell — in biology
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. chair — a leader
  18. capital — a city
  19. pop — soda
  20. pop — music
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. band — a music group
  24. wind — moving air

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