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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: scale · row · capital · last · patient · squash · chip · mate

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. last — final
  3. mate — a friend
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. scale — in music
  6. chip — to eat
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. mate — to breed
  10. mate — a partner
  11. squash — the sport
  12. row — to paddle
  13. capital — money
  14. squash — to crush
  15. last — finally
  16. chip — for betting
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. scale — size or range
  19. row — a line
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. last — to go on

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