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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. present — a gift
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. capital — money
  6. snap — to click
  7. chip — to eat
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chip — for betting
  11. capital — a city
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. can — to be able to
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. present — there
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — finally
  21. can — a tin
  22. present — the time now
  23. last — final
  24. can — a tin

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