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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. swing — music
  3. court — for sport
  4. chip — to eat
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. chip — for betting
  7. court — of law
  8. cap — of ice
  9. capital — a city
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. pitch — completely
  12. cap — a lid
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cap — a hat
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. snap — to click
  17. swing — to play on
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. court — of a king
  21. swing — in golf
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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