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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cell — a phone
  4. capital — money
  5. cue — a hint
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pop — to visit
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a music group
  11. pop — soda
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. cue — a signal
  15. cell — in biology
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. capital — a city
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pop — music
  23. cue — for pool
  24. nail — for a hammer

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