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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tube · last · capital · tear · kid · coach · game · scale

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. game — a match
  3. last — finally
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. capital — a city
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. kid — to tease
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — a container
  12. game — wild animals
  13. scale — in music
  14. tear — to rip
  15. kid — child
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. last — final
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. scale — size or range
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. last — to go on
  23. capital — money
  24. game — a kind of play

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