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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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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: hand · row · capital · dip · chip · lie · wake · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  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. land — a country
  2. land — to come down
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. dip — to sink
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. capital — a city
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. chip — to eat
  10. hand — help
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chip — for betting
  13. lie — to recline
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. hand — in cards
  17. land — ground
  18. row — a line
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. row — to paddle
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. wake — a trail
  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