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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: kid · tear · pop · branch · capital · dip · fork · chip

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. pop — soda
  3. kid — child
  4. capital — a city
  5. tear — to rip
  6. chip — for betting
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. dip — to sink
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. chip — to eat
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. branch — a division
  13. pop — music
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fork — in a road
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. tear — from crying
  20. pop — to visit
  21. kid — to tease
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. capital — a big letter

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