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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. capital — a city
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. field — a subject
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cell — a phone
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. firm — decided
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. field — for sport
  13. firm — a company
  14. field — farmland
  15. shower — rain
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cell — in biology
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. branch — a division
  21. capital — money
  22. firm — steady
  23. shower — to wash
  24. chest — a box

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