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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: chest · bound · capital · spell · prune · content · wind · toast

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. bound — tied together
  3. content — the amount
  4. prune — to trim
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. spell — magic
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bound — obliged
  11. spell — a short time
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wind — moving air
  14. toast — bread
  15. wind — moving air
  16. prune — to trim
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. chest — a box
  20. content — happy
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bound — certain
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a city

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