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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: tube · clip · cabinet · capital · trunk · pound · chest · tear

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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. tear — to rip
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. tear — from crying
  7. capital — money
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. clip — to cut
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. tube — the underground
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. clip — a video
  14. pound — a weight
  15. chest — a box
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. capital — a city
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. tube — a container
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. clip — for paper

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