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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 · season · ball · capital · kid · wound · rest · file

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. chest — of your body
  4. capital — a city
  5. rest — what's left
  6. ball — a dance
  7. file — a document
  8. season — of the year
  9. ball — a great time
  10. chest — a box
  11. rest — a break
  12. capital — money
  13. wound — an injury
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. rest — what's left
  16. wound — an injury
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. file — a line of people
  19. season — in sport
  20. kid — to tease
  21. chest — of your body
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. kid — child
  24. file — a tool

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