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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: kick · present · fall · ruler · pitch · mouse · cold · capital

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. fall — the season
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. cold — not warm
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. present — there
  12. kick — in football
  13. present — a gift
  14. fall — to drop
  15. pitch — completely
  16. capital — a city
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. capital — money
  20. fall — to drop
  21. present — the time now
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ruler — for measuring

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