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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 120 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: capital · cabinet · tube · chip · row · wax · cell · dip

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — a container
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. row — to paddle
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. wax — to grow
  8. cell — a phone
  9. dip — to sink
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. chip — for betting
  12. capital — money
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. chip — to eat
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. cell — in biology
  19. row — a line
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. tube — the underground

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