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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: capital · board · cold · scale · cap · mark · pitch · cell

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. capital — a city
  3. board — a committee
  4. board — to get on
  5. mark — a trace
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cell — a phone
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. cap — a lid
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cold — not warm
  14. capital — money
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. cell — in biology
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. pitch — completely
  21. mark — a grade
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pitch — a sports field

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