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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bound · chip · race · wind · capital · file

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. capital — a city
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bound — obliged
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bound — certain
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a tool
  11. race — a contest
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. file — a document
  14. chip — for betting
  15. wind — moving air
  16. race — humankind
  17. chip — to eat
  18. file — a line of people

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