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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in biology
  5. suit — to fit
  6. capital — money
  7. key — for a lock
  8. bark — to shout
  9. suit — clothes
  10. suit — in cards
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. key — the most important part
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. key — in music
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. chest — a box
  21. bulb — for light
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bulb — of a plant

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