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

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — a lid
  4. file — a line of people
  5. chip — for betting
  6. file — a document
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — for digging
  9. court — of a king
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. file — a tool
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. court — for sport
  16. chip — to eat
  17. cap — of ice
  18. court — of law

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