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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. deal — to handle
  3. cap — a hat
  4. date — the fruit
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. capital — money
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cap — a lid
  13. row — to paddle
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bulb — for light
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cap — of ice
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. row — a line

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