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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: capital · cap · perch · pitch · land · cold · rash · charge

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. land — ground
  6. land — to come down
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. charge — electricity
  9. rash — a series
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — the fish
  13. rash — hasty
  14. pitch — completely
  15. cap — a hat
  16. charge — in control
  17. cap — of ice
  18. capital — money
  19. charge — a price
  20. land — a country
  21. cold — an illness
  22. capital — a city
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rash — on the skin

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