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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: drill · capital · pit · rest · chest · chip

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. rest — what's left
  3. chip — to eat
  4. pit — in a race
  5. capital — money
  6. chip — for betting
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. drill — the tool
  9. pit — a hole
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. drill — army training
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rest — what's left
  15. drill — a practice
  16. capital — a city
  17. chest — a box
  18. chip — in a computer

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