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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: dip · squash · capital · chair · deal · clip · ground · hand

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the sport
  4. hand — help
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. capital — a city
  7. chair — a leader
  8. clip — a video
  9. hand — in cards
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. ground — the earth
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. ground — a position
  18. deal — to handle
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. capital — money
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. ground — crushed

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