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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. net — in sport
  3. track — to keep track
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. chip — for betting
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. track — a path
  10. chip — to eat
  11. mine — for digging
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. scale — size or range
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. net — after costs
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. scale — in music
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — a city
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. net — for catching
  24. capital — money

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