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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.

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: capital · coach · cold · bass · fan · wind · pop · pit

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. capital — a city
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bass — the fish
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pit — a hole
  13. cold — not warm
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. pop — soda
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — money
  18. wind — moving air
  19. pop — to visit
  20. bass — low music
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. pop — music
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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