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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · kick · band · chair · capital · trunk

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. chair — a leader
  4. kid — child
  5. band — a ring
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. band — a music group
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. capital — a city
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. kick — in football

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