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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: rest · straw · tube · capital · dip · file · chip · wound

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. tube — the underground
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — a break
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. wound — an injury
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. chip — to eat
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. capital — a city
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. dip — to sink
  16. wound — an injury
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. file — a line of people
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. chip — for betting
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. file — a tool
  23. capital — money
  24. file — a document

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