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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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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: cell · wind · fall · arm · last · nail · capital · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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. fall — to drop
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. capital — money
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. fall — to drop
  13. capital — a city
  14. cell — a phone
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. fall — the season
  18. last — finally
  19. last — final
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. wind — moving air
  22. last — to go on
  23. chest — a box
  24. nail — on a finger

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