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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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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: object · capital · present · last · spring · bass · land · chip

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. spring — of water
  3. land — a country
  4. object — a thing
  5. present — there
  6. spring — the season
  7. last — to go on
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. object — to protest
  10. bass — the fish
  11. chip — to eat
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. capital — money
  15. present — the time now
  16. bass — low music
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. last — finally
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. last — final
  21. chip — for betting
  22. capital — a city
  23. object — an aim
  24. spring — a coil

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