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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: shower · cold · capital · arm · rule · kid · cap · toast

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. cap — of ice
  4. shower — rain
  5. capital — a city
  6. rule — government
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. kid — to tease
  10. rule — a law
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. capital — money
  15. toast — bread
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cap — a hat
  20. kid — child
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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