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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — to breed
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. craft — a skill
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. capital — money
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wound — an injury
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. craft — boats
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. branch — a division
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. capital — a city
  22. mate — a friend
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — in cards

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