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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: fall · chip · tear · date · capital · land · net · court

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. chip — for betting
  3. court — of a king
  4. tear — from crying
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. fall — to drop
  7. land — ground
  8. land — a country
  9. tear — from crying
  10. net — in sport
  11. court — of law
  12. net — for catching
  13. capital — money
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. date — the fruit
  16. court — for sport
  17. net — after costs
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. land — to come down
  20. fall — the season
  21. capital — a city
  22. tear — to rip
  23. fall — to drop
  24. chip — to eat

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