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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: kick · capital · chip · file · fork · bulb · mate · swing

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. capital — a city
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. file — a line of people
  6. mate — to breed
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. chip — for betting
  9. capital — money
  10. bulb — for light
  11. swing — music
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. swing — to play on
  15. mate — a friend
  16. file — a tool
  17. fork — in a road
  18. kick — in football
  19. chip — to eat
  20. bulb — for light
  21. swing — in golf
  22. file — a document
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. fork — a garden tool

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