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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: tube · chest · bat · hand · wake · capital · foot · can

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. can — a tin
  3. can — to be able to
  4. wake — a trail
  5. hand — help
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. chest — a box
  14. foot — a measure
  15. capital — money
  16. can — a tin
  17. hand — in cards
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. capital — a city
  20. tube — the underground
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. bat — the animal
  24. tube — a container

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