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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 120 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. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. game — a match
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. plane — a tool
  6. rash — a series
  7. chair — a leader
  8. capital — money
  9. rash — hasty
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. kid — to tease
  12. chip — to eat
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. capital — a city
  16. hand — in cards
  17. kid — child
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. game — wild animals
  21. hand — help
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. chip — for betting
  24. hand — part of the body

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