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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: chip · racket · cold · bore · mark · rest · capital · bat

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. chip — for betting
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — a city
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. chip — to eat
  8. bore — to drill
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. rest — what's left
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. mark — a trace
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. rest — what's left
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. mark — a grade
  22. capital — money
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. bore — to tire

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