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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 · pass · cap · shower · swing · cold · mug · file

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. file — a line of people
  3. mug — a cup
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. mug — a face
  7. file — a tool
  8. shower — to wash
  9. swing — in golf
  10. file — a document
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. capital — a city
  14. cap — a lid
  15. shower — rain
  16. cold — not warm
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cap — of ice
  20. swing — to play on
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. mug — to rob
  23. swing — music
  24. pass — a permit

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