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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: wound · chest · fall · capital · content · mug · ground · rush

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mug — a cup
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. chest — of your body
  7. content — happy
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. capital — money
  10. mug — to rob
  11. fall — the season
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. wound — an injury
  14. ground — crushed
  15. rush — hurry
  16. wound — an injury
  17. fall — to drop
  18. ground — the earth
  19. capital — a city
  20. mug — a face
  21. fall — to drop
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — the amount
  24. chest — a box

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