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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: chest · rule · bore · spring · mate · ground · capital · fan

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. chest — of your body
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — a position
  7. capital — a city
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. bore — to tire
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. spring — a coil
  13. ground — crushed
  14. capital — money
  15. rule — government
  16. mate — a friend
  17. bore — to drill
  18. mate — a partner
  19. mate — to breed
  20. chest — of your body
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. spring — of water
  23. rule — a law
  24. spring — the season

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