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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. capital — a city
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. bat — the animal
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. capital — money
  10. march — the month
  11. court — for sport
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. fork — in a road
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. court — of a king
  16. march — music
  17. dip — to sink
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. court — of law
  21. march — the month
  22. chip — to eat
  23. mine — for digging
  24. chip — for betting

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