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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. capital — a city
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. hand — help
  7. file — a tool
  8. kick — in football
  9. chip — for betting
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. capital — money
  12. drill — a practice
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. file — a line of people
  15. bat — the animal
  16. drill — army training
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. file — a document
  20. chip — to eat
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. drill — the tool
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. hand — in cards

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