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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. shower — to wash
  3. capital — a city
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. net — in sport
  6. capital — money
  7. kick — in football
  8. shower — rain
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. net — after costs
  11. land — ground
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. net — for catching
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — for digging
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. foot — a measure
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. foot — part of the body

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