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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 120 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: capital · cue · wind · mark · kid · tear

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. capital — a city
  3. kid — child
  4. wind — moving air
  5. kid — to tease
  6. capital — money
  7. wind — moving air
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. mark — a trace
  10. mark — a grade
  11. cue — a hint
  12. tear — to rip
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cue — for pool
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cue — a signal
  18. tear — from crying

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