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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.

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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: capital · cold · dip · present · bat · mug · pit · key

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mug — to rob
  3. key — in music
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. mug — a cup
  6. key — for a lock
  7. present — there
  8. mug — a face
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pit — in a race
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. key — the most important part
  15. pit — a hole
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. capital — a city
  19. cold — not warm
  20. dip — to sink
  21. present — the time now
  22. present — a gift
  23. capital — money
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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