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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: spring · deal · capital · cold · cap · bat · cabinet · pitcher

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. deal — to handle
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spring — of water
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. capital — money
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cold — an illness
  15. spring — the season
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. capital — a city
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. cap — a lid

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