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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 · plane · march · wind · chip · chest

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. capital — money
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. capital — a city
  7. wind — moving air
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. chip — to eat
  12. march — music
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. wind — moving air
  18. plane — a 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