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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. staff — a stick
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. capital — money
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. lean — to bend
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. chest — of your body
  11. lean — thin
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. staff — employees
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. staff — employees
  19. capital — a city
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — for catching
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. net — in sport
  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