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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: cue · capital · staff · cold · kick · field

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  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. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. capital — money
  4. cue — a signal
  5. field — for sport
  6. staff — employees
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cue — for pool
  9. field — farmland
  10. cold — not warm
  11. field — a subject
  12. cue — a hint
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cold — an illness
  15. staff — a stick
  16. staff — employees
  17. capital — a city
  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