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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: cold · mug · stem · cap · board · capital · kid · spell

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. capital — a city
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. board — a committee
  8. mug — a cup
  9. cap — of ice
  10. stem — to come from
  11. spell — magic
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. spell — letters
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. capital — money
  16. cold — an illness
  17. spell — a short time
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cap — a lid
  20. mug — to rob
  21. mug — a face
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. board — to get on
  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