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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: pop · capital · vault · bear · cold · fork

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. vault — a safe
  6. pop — music
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. pop — soda
  10. cold — an illness
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. pop — to visit
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. capital — money
  16. bear — the animal
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fork — in a road

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