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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: cap · kick · tear · chip · capital · shower · mouse · bound

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bound — certain
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. bound — tied together
  7. shower — to wash
  8. chip — to eat
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. shower — rain
  11. tear — from crying
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. chip — for betting
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — of ice
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a city
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cap — a hat
  22. kick — in football
  23. tear — to rip
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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