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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: court · capital · squash · pitcher · cold · chip · scale · dip

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  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 — in a computer
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. chip — for betting
  8. squash — to crush
  9. court — for sport
  10. capital — a city
  11. court — of a king
  12. chip — to eat
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. court — of law
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. scale — size or range
  17. dip — to sink
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. squash — the sport
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. scale — in music
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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