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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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Word bank
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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: object · mine · cold · tear · capital · mate

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — to breed
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. capital — a city
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. object — an aim
  9. mate — a friend
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. tear — to rip
  12. cold — an illness
  13. tear — from crying
  14. capital — money
  15. object — to protest
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mine — for digging

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