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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: file · wave · cap · mate · pitch · kid · pop · capital

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. mate — to breed
  6. mate — a partner
  7. file — a document
  8. capital — a city
  9. kid — child
  10. capital — money
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cap — of ice
  13. pop — music
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cap — a lid
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. file — a tool
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pop — to visit
  22. file — a line of people
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. mate — a friend

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