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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. capital — money
  4. lean — to bend
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pound — a weight
  8. kid — to tease
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. chest — of your body
  11. kid — child
  12. spell — letters
  13. chest — a box
  14. capital — a city
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pit — in a race
  17. spell — a short time
  18. chest — of your body
  19. spell — magic
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. lean — thin
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. calf — a young animal

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