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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. capital — a city
  3. roll — a cake
  4. last — final
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. last — to go on
  8. cap — a lid
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. chest — a box
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. capital — money
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — low music
  15. roll — a list
  16. last — finally
  17. cap — of ice
  18. band — a ring
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. band — a music group
  23. cap — a hat
  24. roll — on a roll

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