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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 120 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: tube · rock · bay · capital · kid · cold · pitcher · arm

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. kid — child
  3. capital — a city
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. tube — a container
  8. rock — a stone
  9. capital — money
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. tube — the underground
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. rock — music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. kid — to tease
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. pitcher — a jug

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