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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: capital · field · chest · kick · degree · suit

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. field — for sport
  3. chest — a box
  4. degree — temperature
  5. chest — of your body
  6. field — a subject
  7. suit — clothes
  8. field — farmland
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. degree — an amount
  11. suit — to fit
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. degree — from a university
  14. capital — a city
  15. chest — of your body
  16. suit — in cards
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — a thrill

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