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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: drill · leaves · capital · cold · mine · bark · pitch · cue

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. cue — for pool
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. drill — the tool
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. drill — army training
  9. capital — money
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. cold — not warm
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. mine — for digging
  15. cold — an illness
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. capital — a city
  18. pitch — completely
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cue — a signal
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. drill — a practice
  24. cold — the Cold War

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