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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 116 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: chip · mouse · row · capital · deal · cold · degree · lash

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. deal — to handle
  4. chip — to eat
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. degree — from a university
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. capital — money
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. row — a line
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cold — not warm
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. capital — a city
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chip — for betting
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. degree — an amount

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