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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: bat · ruler · chip · capital · toast · clip

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — money
  6. chip — for betting
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bat — the animal
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. clip — a video
  18. chip — to eat

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