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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 · court · cold · trunk · prune · capital · key · rock

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. capital — a city
  3. rock — a stone
  4. chest — of your body
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. cold — an illness
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. court — for sport
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. key — the most important part
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. rock — music
  15. capital — money
  16. cold — not warm
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — of law
  19. key — in music
  20. chest — of your body
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. key — for a lock

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