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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: object · swing · capital · mine · chip · game · band · cap

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — for digging
  4. object — to protest
  5. cap — a lid
  6. swing — music
  7. cap — of ice
  8. game — a match
  9. band — a ring
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — money
  13. swing — in golf
  14. band — a music group
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. chip — for betting
  17. swing — to play on
  18. object — an aim
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. object — a thing
  22. cap — a hat
  23. chip — to eat
  24. game — wild animals

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