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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: trunk · chair · capital · content · pop · ground · chest · rest

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. pop — soda
  4. chest — of your body
  5. content — happy
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. chest — a box
  8. capital — a city
  9. rest — a break
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. ground — the earth
  12. rest — what's left
  13. capital — money
  14. rest — what's left
  15. pop — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. ground — a position
  18. chair — a leader
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. pop — to visit
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. ground — crushed
  24. content — videos and posts

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