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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: bass · capital · chip · ground · pound · hide · present · cold

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. capital — a city
  5. ground — crushed
  6. present — there
  7. capital — money
  8. bass — the fish
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. present — a gift
  12. chip — to eat
  13. ground — the earth
  14. chip — for betting
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. pound — a weight
  20. ground — a position
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. present — the time now
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. bass — low music

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