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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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Word bank
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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: capital · hide · chip · cell · land · drill

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. land — ground
  4. cell — a phone
  5. capital — money
  6. drill — a practice
  7. land — a country
  8. drill — army training
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. chip — to eat
  12. chip — for betting
  13. capital — a city
  14. cell — in biology
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. land — to come down
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. drill — the tool

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