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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  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. capital — a big letter
  2. bound — obliged
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mate — a friend
  7. file — a line of people
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. bound — tied together
  10. file — a document
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. hand — help
  13. toast — bread
  14. capital — money
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. chip — to eat
  17. file — a tool
  18. capital — a city
  19. mate — to breed
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. bound — certain
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. hand — in cards
  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