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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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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: last · trunk · stand · capital · pit · cold · can · mate

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. capital — money
  8. pit — a hole
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. mate — to breed
  11. last — to go on
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. last — final
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. cold — an illness
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — a tin
  18. mate — a partner
  19. last — finally
  20. stand — to bear
  21. pit — in a race
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. can — to be able to
  24. mate — a friend

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