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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: capital · cold · kid · cue · craft · hide · dip · ground

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. craft — boats
  3. cold — an illness
  4. craft — a skill
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. kid — child
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. ground — a position
  13. capital — money
  14. kid — to tease
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. cue — a hint
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cue — for pool
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. dip — to sink
  24. cue — a signal

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