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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: fall · spell · cold · capital · key · file · foot · chip

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. key — in music
  3. key — for a lock
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. file — a tool
  6. capital — a city
  7. spell — letters
  8. file — a document
  9. foot — a measure
  10. spell — magic
  11. chip — to eat
  12. capital — money
  13. cold — not warm
  14. key — the most important part
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fall — to drop
  17. spell — a short time
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. file — a line of people
  21. fall — the season
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. fall — to drop
  24. chip — for betting

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