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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 · face · club · rush · snap · row · net · chip

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. club — a group
  3. capital — a city
  4. net — after costs
  5. snap — to click
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. row — a line
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. club — for dancing
  11. rush — hurry
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. club — for golf
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. row — to paddle
  16. face — part of the head
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chip — to eat
  19. net — for catching
  20. face — to confront
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. face — to point toward
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. net — in sport

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