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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: pit · squash · capital · foot · leaves · mark · cold · track

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — money
  6. squash — to crush
  7. cold — not warm
  8. foot — a measure
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pit — a hole
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. mark — a grade
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. mark — a trace
  18. track — a song
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. track — to keep track
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. track — a path
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. pit — in a race

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