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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 · capital · row · firm · pit · drill

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. drill — army training
  3. pit — a hole
  4. pit — in a race
  5. firm — steady
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. firm — decided
  8. chest — of your body
  9. row — a line
  10. capital — a city
  11. chest — of your body
  12. drill — the tool
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. drill — a practice
  15. chest — a box
  16. firm — a company
  17. row — to paddle
  18. capital — a big letter

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