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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: capital · spell · cell · deal · land · bear · pit · bat

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. land — a country
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. capital — money
  8. spell — letters
  9. pit — in a race
  10. bear — the animal
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. bat — the animal
  15. capital — a city
  16. cell — in biology
  17. land — ground
  18. cell — a phone
  19. spell — magic
  20. deal — to handle
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. land — to come down
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. cell — in a prison

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