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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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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: cell · racket · spell · cold · wind · land · capital · cap

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. cap — of ice
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — a short time
  8. land — a country
  9. capital — a city
  10. cell — a phone
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. cap — a lid
  13. wind — moving air
  14. capital — money
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cold — an illness
  19. land — ground
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. land — to come down
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. wind — moving air

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