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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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468
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: spring · deal · capital · game · net · chest · club · kick

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. net — after costs
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. game — wild animals
  6. spring — the season
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. net — in sport
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. kick — in football
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. spring — a coil
  14. deal — to handle
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. spring — of water
  17. game — a match
  18. club — for golf
  19. net — for catching
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a city
  22. club — a group
  23. club — for dancing
  24. kick — with a leg

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