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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  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 city
  2. capital — money
  3. cap — of ice
  4. staff — employees
  5. wound — an injury
  6. object — a thing
  7. staff — employees
  8. game — a match
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. object — to protest
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. object — an aim
  15. staff — a stick
  16. chip — to eat
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cap — a hat
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. cap — a lid
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. game — wild animals
  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