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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: hand · chip · capital · spring · cap · branch · pitch · court

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. chip — for betting
  3. cap — a lid
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. court — of a king
  6. pitch — completely
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. spring — of water
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cap — of ice
  12. spring — a coil
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. capital — a city
  15. hand — help
  16. cap — a hat
  17. capital — money
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. chip — to eat
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of law
  24. spring — the season

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