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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 116 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: snap · pitch · capital · cold · fine · racket

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — high quality
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. cold — not warm
  9. snap — to click
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. capital — a city
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. capital — money
  18. pitch — a sales talk

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