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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. kid — child
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. spring — the season
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. chest — of your body
  9. band — a ring
  10. deal — to handle
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a leader
  13. spring — a coil
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. fork — in a road
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. spring — of water
  19. band — a music group
  20. kid — to tease
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. chest — a box
  23. capital — a city
  24. chest — of your body

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