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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. capital — money
  2. land — a country
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. stem — to come from
  5. squash — to crush
  6. chest — of your body
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. foot — a measure
  9. chest — of your body
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. land — to come down
  12. squash — the sport
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. cell — a phone
  16. capital — a city
  17. land — ground
  18. pound — a weight
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. cell — in biology
  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