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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: rush · chest · capital · rest · bark · land · deal · present

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rest — a break
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. rest — what's left
  5. chest — of your body
  6. land — a country
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. present — there
  9. rest — what's left
  10. land — ground
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. capital — a city
  13. land — to come down
  14. chest — a box
  15. capital — money
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. deal — to handle
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. bark — to shout
  21. present — the time now
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. present — a gift
  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