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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: rash · cold · net · wake · kid · bark · cabinet · capital

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. bark — to shout
  6. net — in sport
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. capital — money
  10. rash — hasty
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. net — after costs
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wake — a trail
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. net — for catching
  21. rash — a series
  22. kid — child
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — a city

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