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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: bear · saw · chest · face · staff · capital · game · spring

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. chest — of your body
  3. spring — a coil
  4. staff — employees
  5. bear — the animal
  6. game — wild animals
  7. face — part of the head
  8. capital — money
  9. face — to confront
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bear — the animal
  12. spring — of water
  13. saw — the tool
  14. game — a match
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. chest — a box
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. face — to point toward
  20. capital — a city
  21. spring — the season
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. chest — of your body
  24. staff — employees

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