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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: deal · capital · cold · kick · chair · pit · sharp · rush

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. chair — a leader
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. pit — a hole
  13. deal — to handle
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. rush — hurry
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pit — in a race
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. kick — in football
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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