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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. mine — for digging
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. cap — a lid
  5. ground — crushed
  6. snap — to click
  7. cap — a hat
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. ball — a dance
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. sharp — clever
  16. chip — for betting
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. cap — of ice
  19. capital — money
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. ground — a position
  22. capital — a city
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ground — the earth

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