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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: pop · straw · chip · march · clip · tear · stock · capital

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. chip — for betting
  3. capital — a city
  4. chip — to eat
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. tear — from crying
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. capital — money
  11. pop — to visit
  12. march — the month
  13. clip — a video
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. pop — soda
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — goods
  21. pop — music
  22. clip — to cut
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. clip — for paper

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