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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. march — the month
  3. capital — money
  4. track — a path
  5. capital — a city
  6. march — music
  7. cell — a phone
  8. track — a song
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cold — an illness
  11. press — a publisher
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. press — newspapers
  17. march — the month
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. press — to push
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chest — a box
  23. track — to keep track
  24. bay — a horse colour

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