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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: lean · fall · capital · kid · foot · pitch · patient · degree

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. degree — from a university
  8. kid — child
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. foot — a measure
  11. kid — to tease
  12. lean — to bend
  13. fall — the season
  14. degree — temperature
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. degree — an amount
  17. fall — to drop
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. lean — thin
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — money
  23. fall — to drop
  24. pitch — completely

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