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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 116 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pop — music
  3. capital — money
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. last — finally
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. pop — soda
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. pop — to visit
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. last — final
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. chip — to eat
  15. stand — to bear
  16. present — there
  17. present — the time now
  18. present — a gift
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. last — to go on
  22. kid — child
  23. chip — for betting
  24. capital — a city

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