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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: race · pit · cold · fork · tube · capital · cap · charge

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. charge — electricity
  3. cap — a hat
  4. race — humankind
  5. pit — in a race
  6. charge — a price
  7. cap — a lid
  8. race — the arms race
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. tube — the underground
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cap — of ice
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. pit — a hole
  16. tube — a container
  17. capital — a city
  18. charge — in control
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. capital — money
  22. race — a contest
  23. fork — in a road
  24. tube — in a tire

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