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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 120 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: cell · ground · capital · chest · bulb · foot

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. ground — crushed
  3. foot — a measure
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bulb — for light
  6. chest — a box
  7. ground — the earth
  8. bulb — for light
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cell — in biology
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. capital — a city
  14. ground — a position
  15. cell — a phone
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. capital — money
  18. bulb — of a plant

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