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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. capital — a city
  3. fall — the season
  4. pit — a hole
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — to tease
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — a lid
  17. capital — money
  18. tube — a container
  19. kid — child
  20. fall — to drop
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. cap — of ice
  23. pit — in a race
  24. hand — in cards

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