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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. capital — a city
  5. bound — certain
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bound — tied together
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. chip — for betting
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. band — a music group
  13. mine — for digging
  14. vault — a safe
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. capital — money
  17. band — a ring
  18. degree — from a university
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. bound — obliged
  23. degree — an amount
  24. chip — to eat

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