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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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Word bank
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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: cold · capital · mark · tube · cell · row · ball · calf

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mark — a trace
  7. tube — a container
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. ball — a dance
  11. capital — a city
  12. cold — not warm
  13. tube — the underground
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. capital — money
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. row — a line
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cell — a phone
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. ball — a great time
  24. row — to paddle

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