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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: kid · capital · track · cue · pitcher · bat · game · file

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. game — wild animals
  4. file — a tool
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — money
  7. track — to keep track
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. game — a match
  13. cue — for pool
  14. cue — a hint
  15. track — a path
  16. track — a song
  17. file — a document
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. kid — to tease
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. cue — a signal
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. kid — child

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