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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: deal · capital · chest · straw · ground · cell

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — in biology
  3. chest — of your body
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. chest — a box
  8. cell — a phone
  9. capital — money
  10. deal — to handle
  11. chest — of your body
  12. ground — crushed
  13. ground — a position
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. ground — the earth
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. straw — dry grass

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