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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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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: cap · chip · file · wind · leaves · content · bat · bound

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. cap — a hat
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. file — a tool
  6. bound — obliged
  7. file — a line of people
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. chip — to eat
  11. bound — certain
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — happy
  14. cap — of ice
  15. content — the amount
  16. wind — moving air
  17. file — a document
  18. bound — tied together
  19. wind — moving air
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. bat — the animal

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