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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: ground · pop · march · kick · chip · capital · hand · game

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. march — the month
  3. ground — the earth
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — a city
  6. ground — a position
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. pop — to visit
  9. march — music
  10. chip — to eat
  11. hand — in cards
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. pop — soda
  14. march — the month
  15. game — a match
  16. hand — help
  17. capital — money
  18. chip — for betting
  19. kick — in football
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. game — wild animals
  23. ground — crushed
  24. hand — part of the body

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