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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. land — ground
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. chip — to eat
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. chip — for betting
  9. capital — money
  10. cell — a phone
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. land — a country
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — army training
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. cell — in biology
  19. capital — a city
  20. land — to come down
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. pitch — completely

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