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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — in cards
  7. capital — a city
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chip — for betting
  10. tear — to rip
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. land — ground
  14. hand — help
  15. tear — from crying
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. chair — a leader
  18. land — a country
  19. chip — to eat
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. capital — money
  23. dip — to sink
  24. chair — a professorship

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