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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  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. spell — a short time
  2. hand — in cards
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. capital — a city
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. pitch — completely
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. capital — money
  10. hand — help
  11. kid — to tease
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. spell — magic
  14. chip — to eat
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. kid — child
  18. branch — a division
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. mine — for digging
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. spell — letters
  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