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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. chest — of your body
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. chest — of your body
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — a group
  7. roll — a list
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cue — a hint
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cue — a signal
  14. field — for sport
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. field — a subject
  17. chest — a box
  18. prune — to trim
  19. roll — a cake
  20. field — farmland
  21. capital — money
  22. club — for dancing
  23. cue — for pool
  24. prune — to trim

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