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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: rash · wind · mine · capital · bat · stand · firm · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. mine — for digging
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — a city
  7. stand — to bear
  8. firm — decided
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. firm — a company
  13. bat — the animal
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. capital — money
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rash — a series
  20. wind — moving air
  21. firm — steady
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. kid — to tease

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