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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: key · net · capital · chest · cold · rest · club · dip

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. capital — a city
  3. key — for a lock
  4. chest — a box
  5. capital — money
  6. chest — of your body
  7. key — in music
  8. key — the most important part
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — for dancing
  13. cold — an illness
  14. net — after costs
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. rest — what's left
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. net — for catching
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. club — a group
  22. cold — not warm
  23. dip — to sink
  24. net — in sport

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