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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: capital · pitcher · cell · cold · present · racket

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. present — there
  10. cell — in biology
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — a gift
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. cell — a phone
  17. capital — a city
  18. racket — for tennis

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