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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: mark · kid · wake · foot · capital · march · cue · cold

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. cue — a signal
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. foot — a measure
  7. march — the month
  8. capital — a city
  9. mark — a trace
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. capital — money
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wake — a trail
  14. march — music
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. mark — a grade
  18. cue — for pool
  19. march — the month
  20. kid — to tease
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. kid — child
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. cue — a hint

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