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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: pit · pop · stand · cold · tube · capital · bass · land

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. capital — a city
  4. land — a country
  5. bass — low music
  6. pit — in a race
  7. pop — music
  8. pop — soda
  9. tube — the underground
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. pit — a hole
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. pop — to visit
  17. tube — a container
  18. land — to come down
  19. capital — money
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. stand — to bear
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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