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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: tube · kid · ball · cell · drill · cold · cap · capital

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — to tease
  5. capital — a city
  6. kid — child
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. ball — a dance
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cell — a phone
  11. drill — army training
  12. cold — an illness
  13. drill — a practice
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. tube — a container
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — a hat
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. capital — money
  21. cold — not warm
  22. ball — a great time
  23. cap — of ice
  24. drill — the tool

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