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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: kid · calf · cold · cap · object · band · pit · capital

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. cold — not warm
  3. band — a music group
  4. cap — of ice
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. kid — child
  7. capital — money
  8. object — an aim
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. object — a thing
  13. kid — to tease
  14. cap — a hat
  15. object — to protest
  16. band — a ring
  17. capital — a city
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — a hole
  20. cold — an illness
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. cap — a lid
  23. pit — in a race
  24. cold — the Cold War

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