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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
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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: mug · capital · cold · bulb · coach · field · roll · chip

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. capital — a city
  3. bulb — for light
  4. chip — for betting
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. roll — a list
  12. mug — a face
  13. chip — to eat
  14. roll — a cake
  15. mug — a cup
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bulb — for light
  18. cold — an illness
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. mug — to rob
  21. field — a subject
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. capital — a big letter
  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