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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 120 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: staff · cold · leaves · pitcher · dip · capital · bowl · kid

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. capital — a city
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — child
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. staff — employees
  13. capital — money
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. staff — employees
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. kid — to tease
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. staff — a stick

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