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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  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. chip — in a computer
  2. capital — a city
  3. spring — the season
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. game — wild animals
  6. spring — of water
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — a subject
  10. march — the month
  11. field — for sport
  12. march — music
  13. capital — money
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. chip — for betting
  18. march — the month
  19. bore — to drill
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bore — to tire
  22. game — a match
  23. chair — a leader
  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