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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: clip · season · fall · chest · tube · capital · perch · bound

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fall — to drop
  3. season — of the year
  4. bound — tied together
  5. perch — the fish
  6. tube — a container
  7. chest — a box
  8. fall — the season
  9. fall — to drop
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. season — in sport
  12. bound — obliged
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. chest — of your body
  15. capital — money
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. clip — for paper
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. capital — a city
  24. bound — certain

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