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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. drill — the tool
  3. chip — for betting
  4. capital — a city
  5. chip — to eat
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. drill — a practice
  8. net — in sport
  9. cold — an illness
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — for catching
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chest — a box
  17. capital — money
  18. mug — a cup
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. mug — a face
  23. drill — army training
  24. capital — a big letter

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