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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 120 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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. cap — of ice
  5. chip — for betting
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. club — a group
  9. capital — money
  10. chair — a leader
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. club — for dancing
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. club — for golf
  16. capital — a city
  17. cap — a hat
  18. sharp — clever
  19. land — a country
  20. cap — a lid
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. chip — to eat
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. land — to come down

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