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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: cell · chest · pitch · kick · net · hand · bay · capital

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  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. kick — a thrill
  2. net — for catching
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. cell — a phone
  6. net — after costs
  7. capital — money
  8. hand — help
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. net — in sport
  14. kick — in football
  15. pitch — completely
  16. hand — in cards
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. cell — in biology
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. capital — a city
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bay — a horse colour
  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