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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 · charge · club · land · ground

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  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. ground — the earth
  2. land — ground
  3. chest — of your body
  4. capital — money
  5. chest — of your body
  6. club — for dancing
  7. land — to come down
  8. charge — in control
  9. ground — crushed
  10. charge — a price
  11. charge — electricity
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. club — for golf
  14. capital — a city
  15. ground — a position
  16. land — a country
  17. club — a group
  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