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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 · suit · fall · date · bore · cold · jam · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. date — the fruit
  3. cold — not warm
  4. capital — a city
  5. fall — to drop
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — to tire
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. suit — clothes
  15. cold — an illness
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. capital — money
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. kid — to tease
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. suit — in cards
  23. suit — to fit
  24. fall — the season

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