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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: trunk · fall · board · chip · wind · track · capital · rule

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. chip — to eat
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. fall — to drop
  5. capital — a city
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. track — a path
  9. track — to keep track
  10. wind — moving air
  11. track — a song
  12. board — to get on
  13. rule — government
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rule — a law
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. fall — the season
  19. capital — money
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — for betting
  22. board — a committee
  23. fall — to drop
  24. trunk — of a car

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