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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 116 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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468
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: capital · rash · kid · dip · cold · mark · field · branch

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. field — farmland
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. rash — a series
  11. mark — a grade
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. mark — a trace
  14. rash — hasty
  15. kid — to tease
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport
  19. capital — a city
  20. branch — a division
  21. capital — money
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. cold — the Cold War

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