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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: capital · chip · spell · swing · cell · bark · stock · pitch

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. capital — money
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. stock — shares
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. pitch — completely
  11. stock — goods
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. spell — a short time
  14. chip — to eat
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. spell — letters
  17. swing — in golf
  18. capital — a city
  19. cell — a phone
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. bark — to shout
  22. spell — magic
  23. swing — music
  24. cell — in biology

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