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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: capital · bear · last · spell · coach · chip · cold · saw

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. chip — to eat
  5. cold — not warm
  6. saw — the tool
  7. capital — money
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. bear — the animal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. chip — for betting
  13. last — final
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. cold — an illness
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. spell — a short time
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. spell — letters
  20. last — finally
  21. capital — a city
  22. saw — the tool
  23. last — to go on
  24. spell — magic

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