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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 116 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: season · cue · stand · mine · file · kid · fall · capital

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. file — a document
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. mine — for digging
  8. cue — for pool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a tool
  11. cue — a signal
  12. season — of the year
  13. fall — the season
  14. kid — to tease
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. stand — to bear
  20. capital — money
  21. season — in sport
  22. capital — a city
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. stand — for spectators

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