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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  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 — money
  2. chip — to eat
  3. cold — an illness
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. game — a match
  6. spring — of water
  7. mug — a face
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. capital — a city
  11. cold — not warm
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. mine — for digging
  14. spring — the season
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. mug — to rob
  18. game — wild animals
  19. mug — a cup
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. spring — a coil
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. chip — for betting

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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