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

Word bank: last · capital · ground · chest · swing · pound

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. ground — the earth
  3. ground — crushed
  4. chest — a box
  5. last — final
  6. swing — to play on
  7. capital — money
  8. last — finally
  9. swing — music
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. ground — a position
  13. swing — in golf
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. chest — of your body
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. pound — a weight

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