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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: land · cell · cap · kid · vault · march · present · capital

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. present — there
  4. land — to come down
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. vault — a safe
  7. cell — a phone
  8. land — ground
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cap — of ice
  11. march — the month
  12. capital — a city
  13. kid — child
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. kid — to tease
  17. present — a gift
  18. cap — a lid
  19. land — a country
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. capital — money
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. present — the time now

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