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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: kick · coach · bat · capital · vault · field

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — in football
  3. capital — a city
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. field — farmland
  6. vault — a safe
  7. capital — money
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — in an idiom

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