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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 120 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: capital · bowl · cabinet · leaves · kick · cold · bay · bat

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. kick — in football
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. capital — money
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. capital — a city
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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