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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 116 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: rule · hide · nail · capital · field · kid

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. kid — to tease
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. rule — government
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. rule — a law
  12. capital — money
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. kid — child
  15. field — farmland
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. capital — a city
  18. nail — for a hammer

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