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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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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 · capital · bay · ground · wave · trunk · cell · calf

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cell — in biology
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. chest — of your body
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. chest — a box
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. capital — money
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — crushed
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. ground — the earth
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. capital — a city
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. calf — of the leg

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