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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. chip — for betting
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. perch — the fish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. capital — a city
  7. chip — to eat
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. court — for sport
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. track — a path
  13. court — of a king
  14. track — to keep track
  15. court — of law
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. capital — money

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