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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: kid · kick · band · chair · capital · trunk · race · rest

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. race — humankind
  3. kid — to tease
  4. chair — a leader
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. capital — money
  7. rest — what's left
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. kid — child
  15. band — a music group
  16. capital — a city
  17. band — a ring
  18. rest — what's left
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. race — the arms race
  21. race — a contest
  22. rest — a break
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. band — a rubber band

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