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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: bowl · capital · tear · leaves · kid · chest

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. chest — of your body
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. chest — a box
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. tear — to rip
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. kid — to tease
  13. tear — from crying
  14. chest — of your body
  15. kid — child
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. tear — from crying

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