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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 · band · leaves · kid · pit · fall · wound · straw

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fall — the season
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. kid — child
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. kid — to tease
  12. fall — to drop
  13. wound — an injury
  14. capital — a city
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. pit — a hole
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. band — a music group
  22. pit — in a race
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. fall — to drop

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