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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: hand · capital · fall · chest · cell · mug · leaves · content

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mug — to rob
  4. mug — a face
  5. fall — to drop
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cell — in biology
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. content — happy
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. chest — a box
  13. capital — money
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. hand — in cards
  18. mug — a cup
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. capital — a city
  21. fall — to drop
  22. cell — a phone
  23. hand — help
  24. fall — the season

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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