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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: wake · chip · band · field · hand · bulb · racket · capital

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. field — farmland
  3. chip — for betting
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bulb — for light
  9. band — a ring
  10. bulb — for light
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. band — a music group
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. chip — to eat
  18. wake — a trail
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. field — for sport
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. field — a subject

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