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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: capital · mine · cold · season · fork · saw

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. saw — the tool
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. mine — for digging
  7. capital — a city
  8. cold — an illness
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. fork — in a road
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. season — of the year
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. season — in sport
  16. saw — the tool
  17. capital — money
  18. cold — not warm

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