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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: deal · cold · last · capital · perch · ruler · chip · date

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. deal — to handle
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. last — finally
  8. last — to go on
  9. capital — money
  10. chip — for betting
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. cold — not warm
  13. date — the fruit
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. cold — an illness
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. last — final
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. chip — to eat
  23. capital — a city
  24. ruler — for measuring

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