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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: cap · kid · snap · kick · row · roll · tear · capital

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. tear — from crying
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. kid — to tease
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cap — a hat
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cap — a lid
  12. roll — a list
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kid — child
  16. roll — a cake
  17. tear — from crying
  18. row — to paddle
  19. capital — money
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. row — a line
  24. snap — to click

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