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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: cabinet · spring · cap · fan · bat · straw · capital · land

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. capital — money
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. bat — the animal
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. land — ground
  10. land — to come down
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. capital — a city
  14. land — a country
  15. cap — a hat
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cap — a lid
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. cap — of ice
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — the season
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. spring — a coil

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