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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. spell — a short time
  3. spell — magic
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. capital — money
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. spell — letters
  11. track — a path
  12. track — a song
  13. land — a country
  14. chip — to eat
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. chip — for betting
  17. land — ground
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. cold — an illness
  23. track — to keep track
  24. land — to come down

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