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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · staff · present · fan · squash · trunk · last · capital

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — employees
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — finally
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. present — a gift
  10. present — there
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. present — the time now
  13. squash — to crush
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. staff — a stick
  16. cold — not warm
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cold — an illness
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. squash — the sport
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. capital — a city
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. last — final

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