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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: capital · spell · tube · bore · cell · charge · chest · cold

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — a short time
  6. tube — a container
  7. charge — electricity
  8. charge — a price
  9. bore — to tire
  10. capital — money
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. charge — in control
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. bore — to drill
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — a city
  20. chest — of your body
  21. tube — the underground
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. spell — letters

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