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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. capital — money
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cap — a hat
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. season — in sport
  7. land — ground
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. cap — of ice
  12. season — of the year
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. land — to come down
  15. roll — a list
  16. chip — for betting
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. plane — a tool
  19. capital — a city
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. cap — a lid
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. land — a country
  24. chip — to eat

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