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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: chest · jam · spring · toast · capital · drill · track · hand

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. capital — a city
  3. chest — a box
  4. drill — a practice
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. capital — money
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. track — a song
  10. chest — of your body
  11. track — a path
  12. drill — the tool
  13. track — to keep track
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. chest — of your body
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. drill — army training
  19. toast — bread
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — the season
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. spring — a coil
  24. hand — in cards

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