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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. chip — to eat
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. kid — to tease
  6. field — a subject
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. chip — for betting
  9. kid — child
  10. spring — of water
  11. capital — a city
  12. shower — rain
  13. cap — a hat
  14. field — farmland
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. spring — a coil
  18. cap — of ice
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cap — a lid
  21. capital — money
  22. spring — the season
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. field — for sport

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