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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. net — after costs
  5. chest — a box
  6. content — the amount
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. spring — of water
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. rule — government
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. spring — a coil
  16. content — happy
  17. net — in sport
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. rule — a law
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. net — for catching
  22. spring — the season
  23. capital — money
  24. racket — a loud noise

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