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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wave · chair · kick · rule · capital · hand · sharp · game

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. game — a match
  5. rule — government
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. capital — money
  9. chair — a leader
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. hand — help
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. sharp — clever
  16. rule — a law
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. capital — a city
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. hand — in cards
  24. kick — in football

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