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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 116 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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. track — a song
  3. chair — a leader
  4. track — to keep track
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. kid — child
  7. capital — money
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. club — for golf
  11. club — for dancing
  12. kid — to tease
  13. club — a group
  14. capital — a city
  15. rash — hasty
  16. row — a line
  17. track — a path
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. rash — a series
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. row — to paddle
  24. calf — of the leg

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