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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. cell — a phone
  8. key — the most important part
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cell — in biology
  11. bulb — for light
  12. key — in music
  13. capital — a city
  14. chest — a box
  15. key — for a lock
  16. capital — money
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness

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