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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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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: wind · mine · chip · charge · stock · plane · capital · pop

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. chip — to eat
  3. capital — a city
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. charge — in control
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stock — goods
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. stock — shares
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. capital — money
  16. plane — a tool
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. pop — music
  19. pop — to visit
  20. chip — for betting
  21. charge — a price
  22. mine — for digging
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pop — soda

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