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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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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: hide · nail · bat · dip · capital · firm · wake · cold

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. firm — steady
  5. capital — money
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. firm — decided
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. dip — to sink
  17. bat — the animal
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. firm — a company
  23. cold — not warm
  24. dip — a sauce

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