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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: cap · fall · saw · pop · cold · wind · racket · capital

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cold — an illness
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. capital — money
  6. cold — not warm
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. cap — a lid
  10. fall — the season
  11. pop — to visit
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. cap — a hat
  15. saw — the tool
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. capital — a city
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cap — of ice
  21. pop — soda
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. fall — to drop
  24. pop — music

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