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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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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 · capital · club · wind · dip · band · net · bear

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. net — in sport
  4. chip — to eat
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. bear — the animal
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. dip — to sink
  11. club — for golf
  12. chip — for betting
  13. club — a group
  14. wind — moving air
  15. band — a music group
  16. net — for catching
  17. capital — a city
  18. band — a ring
  19. bear — the animal
  20. club — for dancing
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. capital — money
  24. band — a rubber band

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