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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — money
  3. cold — an illness
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. drill — a practice
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. sharp — clever
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. snap — to click
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chip — to eat
  17. chip — for betting
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. drill — the tool
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. drill — army training
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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