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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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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. lie — to recline
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. capital — a city
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. branch — a division
  11. last — final
  12. kick — in football
  13. capital — money
  14. last — finally
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. last — to go on

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