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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 120 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 · perch · capital · cold · last · wax · firm · racket

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. firm — steady
  3. last — final
  4. firm — decided
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wax — to grow
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. firm — a company
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chip — for betting
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. perch — the fish
  19. last — finally
  20. capital — a city
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. last — to go on
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. capital — money

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