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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 120 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: degree · fall · capital · chip · pitch · staff · cell · land

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. capital — money
  4. fall — the season
  5. land — to come down
  6. staff — employees
  7. chip — to eat
  8. cell — in biology
  9. land — ground
  10. degree — from a university
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chip — for betting
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fall — to drop
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. cell — a phone
  20. capital — a city
  21. pitch — completely
  22. fall — to drop
  23. land — a country
  24. staff — a stick

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