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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: cold · chip · capital · coach · wave · pit · row · current

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. chip — for betting
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. pit — a hole
  8. row — to paddle
  9. current — happening now
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. current — electric
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. pit — in a race
  15. chip — to eat
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. current — of water
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. row — a line
  20. capital — a city
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. cold — an illness
  23. capital — money
  24. chip — in a computer

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