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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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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: tear · ball · vault · trunk · chip · straw · net · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. capital — money
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. chip — to eat
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a great time
  10. net — in sport
  11. vault — a safe
  12. tear — from crying
  13. net — for catching
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. tear — from crying
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. net — after costs
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. tear — to rip

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