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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: cold · stick · tube · chip · capital · wind

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. chip — to eat
  6. chip — for betting
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. capital — a city
  13. tube — the underground
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. tube — a container
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cold — the Cold War

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