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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: current · capital · cold · degree · vault · coach · stock · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. cold — not warm
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. degree — temperature
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. stock — shares
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — an illness
  11. stock — goods
  12. current — electric
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. degree — an amount
  16. capital — a city
  17. current — happening now
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. vault — a safe
  20. current — of water
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. degree — from a university
  23. capital — money
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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