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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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Word bank
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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 · capital · object · straw · hide · pitcher

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — money
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. object — a thing
  11. kid — child
  12. object — an aim
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pitcher — a jug

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