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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: net · chest · chip · can · nail · scale · mine · capital

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — in sport
  5. chip — for betting
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. net — for catching
  8. scale — size or range
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a city
  11. chest — of your body
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. chest — of your body
  14. scale — in music
  15. can — a tin
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. chest — a box
  19. can — a tin
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. can — to be able to
  23. chip — to eat
  24. mine — belonging to me

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