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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. capital — money
  4. tube — a container
  5. chest — a box
  6. tube — the underground
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spring — the season
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. key — in music
  14. capital — a city
  15. kick — in football
  16. sharp — clever
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. key — for a lock
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. spring — of water
  21. key — the most important part
  22. wind — moving air
  23. spring — a coil
  24. kick — with a leg

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