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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 120 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: cold · cell · current · mug · suit · march · season · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. current — happening now
  8. cell — a phone
  9. mug — to rob
  10. suit — in cards
  11. cold — not warm
  12. march — the month
  13. season — of the year
  14. current — of water
  15. mug — a cup
  16. cell — in biology
  17. capital — money
  18. suit — to fit
  19. season — in sport
  20. suit — clothes
  21. mug — a face
  22. current — electric
  23. march — music
  24. cold — an illness

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