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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 will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. march — the month
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. capital — money
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. date — the fruit
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. march — music
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. capital — a city
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. row — a line
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. march — the month
  21. pitch — completely
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. row — to paddle

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