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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: chest · perch · rule · bear · hide · capital · cabinet · wound

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. rule — a law
  3. chest — of your body
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — the animal
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. chest — of your body
  17. capital — money
  18. chest — a box
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. rule — government
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. perch — the fish
  24. cabinet — ministers

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