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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.

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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: content · patient · staff · capital · cell · cap · cold · sharp

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. staff — a stick
  3. capital — money
  4. cap — a hat
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. cell — in biology
  8. staff — employees
  9. content — the amount
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. staff — employees
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. content — happy
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cap — a lid
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cap — of ice
  23. sharp — exactly
  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