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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. net — in sport
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. capital — money
  6. chip — to eat
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. net — after costs
  13. track — a song
  14. scale — size or range
  15. track — to keep track
  16. mine — for digging
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. track — a path
  19. scale — in music
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. shower — rain
  22. net — for catching
  23. chip — for betting
  24. capital — a city

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