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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: spring · chip · file · key · capital · field · content · present

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  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. file — a tool
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. key — the most important part
  4. present — the time now
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. field — a subject
  8. content — happy
  9. key — in music
  10. field — for sport
  11. present — there
  12. capital — a city
  13. chip — to eat
  14. field — farmland
  15. key — for a lock
  16. content — the amount
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. file — a line of people
  19. spring — of water
  20. file — a document
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. chip — for betting
  23. present — a gift
  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