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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. wind — moving air
  3. mine — for digging
  4. capital — a city
  5. chest — of your body
  6. present — the time now
  7. firm — a company
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. present — there
  10. chest — a box
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. firm — steady
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. wind — moving air
  19. chest — of your body
  20. vault — a safe
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. firm — decided
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. present — a gift

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