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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: bass · pop · bear · leaves · capital · chest · kick · band

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. bass — low music
  4. bear — the animal
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. chest — of your body
  7. band — a ring
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. band — a music group
  13. pop — soda
  14. pop — to visit
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. pop — music
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. bear — the animal
  19. kick — in football
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. capital — money
  23. chest — of your body
  24. 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