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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: pound · branch · kid · kick · date · capital · wound · coach

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. pound — a weight
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kid — child
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. capital — a city
  15. date — the fruit
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kick — in football
  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