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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · present · capital · land · pitcher · saw · cabinet · mate

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. present — the time now
  3. capital — money
  4. mate — a partner
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. capital — a city
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mate — a friend
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. present — there
  14. saw — the tool
  15. land — ground
  16. land — to come down
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. present — a gift
  21. cold — an illness
  22. saw — the tool
  23. land — a country
  24. mate — to breed

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