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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · coach · bound · rest · capital · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. capital — money
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bound — certain
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rest — what's left
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bound — obliged
  12. capital — a city
  13. rest — a break
  14. cell — in biology
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bound — tied together
  17. chest — of your body
  18. 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