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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: chest · capital · rest · perch · rule · bear · content · season

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. content — happy
  7. rule — government
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bear — the animal
  10. content — the amount
  11. chest — a box
  12. capital — a city
  13. rule — a law
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. chest — of your body
  16. capital — money
  17. season — of the year
  18. bear — the animal
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — what's left
  21. perch — the fish
  22. rest — a break
  23. season — in sport
  24. chest — of your body

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