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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: last · cap · rash · capital · game · rest · rule · cold

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. cap — of ice
  4. capital — a city
  5. cap — a hat
  6. rest — a break
  7. game — a match
  8. last — to go on
  9. game — wild animals
  10. last — finally
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rest — what's left
  13. last — final
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rash — a series
  21. rule — government
  22. rest — what's left
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. cap — a lid

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