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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. capital — a city
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. ground — crushed
  6. track — a song
  7. bat — the animal
  8. ground — a position
  9. season — of the year
  10. kid — child
  11. ground — the earth
  12. stand — to bear
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. capital — money
  15. chip — for betting
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. kid — to tease
  18. season — in sport
  19. track — to keep track
  20. track — a path
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. stand — for spectators

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