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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 · foot · present · capital · root · bound · band · land

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. root — the cause
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. root — of a word
  5. band — a music group
  6. capital — a city
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. chest — a box
  9. present — a gift
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bound — obliged
  12. land — to come down
  13. bound — certain
  14. capital — money
  15. chest — of your body
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. present — there
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. band — a ring
  21. present — the time now
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. foot — a measure
  24. root — of a plant

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