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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: game · capital · kid · degree · stand · hide · nail · stick

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. capital — money
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. degree — from a university
  7. kid — to tease
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. stand — to bear
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. game — a match
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — wild animals
  18. degree — temperature
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. degree — an amount
  24. capital — a city

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