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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. capital — a city
  3. ground — a position
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. ground — the earth
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. court — for sport
  8. mine — for digging
  9. chest — of your body
  10. capital — money
  11. court — of law
  12. ground — crushed
  13. lie — to recline
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. court — of a king
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. bat — the animal
  21. rash — a series
  22. chest — of your body
  23. rash — hasty
  24. lie — an untruth

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