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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. cold — an illness
  3. swing — in golf
  4. kid — child
  5. capital — a city
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. swing — to play on
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — the sport
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. dip — to sink
  14. present — a gift
  15. capital — money
  16. present — there
  17. cold — not warm
  18. squash — to crush
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. swing — music
  23. kid — to tease
  24. present — the time now

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