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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cap · pound · tear · capital · cell · spring

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. cell — in biology
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. cap — a hat
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cell — a phone
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — the season
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. capital — a city
  13. spring — of water
  14. cap — of ice
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. pound — a weight
  17. capital — money
  18. tear — from crying

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