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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: staff · cold · capital · deal · cell · last · season · ball

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. last — final
  3. capital — a city
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cell — a phone
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. cold — an illness
  8. staff — employees
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. ball — a dance
  11. staff — a stick
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. last — finally
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. ball — a great time
  16. deal — to handle
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. last — to go on
  19. staff — employees
  20. cold — not warm
  21. capital — money
  22. season — of the year
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. season — in sport

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