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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. file — a line of people
  4. capital — a city
  5. stock — shares
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. track — to keep track
  8. chair — a leader
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. stock — goods
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. capital — money
  15. chip — to eat
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. band — a music group
  18. file — a tool
  19. track — a song
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. file — a document
  22. band — a ring
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. track — a path

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