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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: staff · fine · chest · capital · hand · club · cell · leaves

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. club — for golf
  7. hand — help
  8. staff — a stick
  9. staff — employees
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. fine — all right
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. hand — in cards
  14. club — for dancing
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. cell — in biology
  17. chest — a box
  18. cell — a phone
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. fine — high quality
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. staff — employees
  23. capital — money
  24. club — a group

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