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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: pit · kid · capital · row · mine · leaves · bound · rash

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. bound — tied together
  4. rash — hasty
  5. kid — to tease
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. kid — child
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — a city
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bound — obliged
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. bound — certain
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. pit — in a race
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. capital — money
  21. row — a line
  22. row — to paddle
  23. rash — a series
  24. mine — for digging

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