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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.

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: last · capital · cold · tube · squash · can · degree · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — a city
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. tube — the underground
  10. last — final
  11. degree — from a university
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. squash — the sport
  14. degree — an amount
  15. squash — to crush
  16. can — to be able to
  17. last — to go on
  18. tube — a container
  19. can — a tin
  20. degree — temperature
  21. can — a tin
  22. cold — not warm
  23. last — finally
  24. capital — money

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