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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: season · nail · cold · pitcher · drill · rule · foot · capital

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. cold — an illness
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. rule — a law
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. capital — a city
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. capital — money
  9. drill — army training
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. season — of the year
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cold — not warm
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. drill — a practice
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. foot — a measure
  19. drill — the tool
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. rule — government
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. nail — for a hammer

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