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

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. court — for sport
  3. pitch — completely
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. object — a thing
  6. current — of water
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bound — obliged
  9. capital — money
  10. object — to protest
  11. capital — a city
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. current — happening now
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. cold — an illness
  16. object — an aim
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bound — tied together
  19. current — electric
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bound — certain
  22. court — of a king
  23. chest — a box
  24. court — of law

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