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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: wound · kid · mine · kick · jam · capital · cue · row

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. row — a line
  4. row — to paddle
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. cue — for pool
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. capital — a city
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. kick — in football
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cue — a signal
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. cue — a hint
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. kid — child
  23. wound — an injury
  24. capital — money

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