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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: capital · saw · bore · bowl · kid · present · cold · date

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. cold — an illness
  3. saw — the tool
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — child
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bore — to tire
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. present — there
  12. present — the time now
  13. saw — the tool
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. present — a gift
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. date — the fruit
  21. kid — to tease
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. cold — not warm
  24. date — on the calendar

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