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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. can — to be able to
  3. capital — money
  4. kid — to tease
  5. capital — a city
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. chest — a box
  8. wind — moving air
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. chest — of your body
  11. squash — the sport
  12. can — a tin
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. can — a tin
  15. ball — a great time
  16. squash — to crush
  17. chest — of your body
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. ball — a dance
  22. wind — moving air
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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