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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: kick · kid · bay · bore · capital · file

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. file — a tool
  7. capital — a city
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. kid — child
  10. capital — money
  11. bore — to tire
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. kick — in football
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. file — a document
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. bore — to drill
  18. file — a line of people

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