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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. capital — money
  4. cue — a hint
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. cue — for pool
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. cue — a signal
  12. drill — a practice
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. kid — to tease
  15. scale — in music
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. drill — the tool
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. capital — a city
  21. scale — size or range
  22. drill — army training
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. scale — for weighing

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