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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 120 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: club · bat · chest · field · perch · can

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. field — for sport
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. field — a subject
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — for golf
  8. can — a tin
  9. bat — the animal
  10. club — a group
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. chest — of your body
  15. field — farmland
  16. chest — a box
  17. can — a tin
  18. chest — of your body

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