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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 116 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. chip — for betting
  3. capital — money
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. chip — to eat
  6. capital — a city
  7. bass — low music
  8. mine — for digging
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. stand — to bear
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. cell — in biology
  17. sharp — clever
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bark — to shout
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. cell — a phone
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. chip — in a computer

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