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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: charge · date · hand · board · rule · capital · field · key

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. charge — electricity
  4. charge — a price
  5. key — the most important part
  6. hand — in cards
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. board — to get on
  9. field — farmland
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. rule — a law
  12. charge — in control
  13. rule — government
  14. capital — a city
  15. key — for a lock
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — for sport
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. hand — help
  22. board — a committee
  23. key — in music
  24. date — the fruit

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