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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 120 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 · drill · safe · capital · chair · kid · bound · march

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. drill — army training
  3. capital — a city
  4. march — the month
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. drill — a practice
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. drill — the tool
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. march — the month
  14. bound — tied together
  15. march — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. chair — a leader
  19. bound — certain
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. chest — a box
  22. capital — money
  23. kid — to tease
  24. bound — obliged

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