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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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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: cold · object · capital · board · wind · season · deal · game

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. cold — not warm
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. object — an aim
  5. cold — an illness
  6. season — of the year
  7. season — in sport
  8. wind — moving air
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. deal — to handle
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. object — to protest
  14. wind — moving air
  15. object — a thing
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. board — a committee
  18. capital — money
  19. game — a match
  20. board — to get on
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. game — wild animals
  24. deal — a big deal

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