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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 · scale · game · field · chest · capital · can · track

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. track — a path
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. field — farmland
  5. can — a tin
  6. track — a song
  7. chest — of your body
  8. capital — money
  9. kick — in football
  10. field — a subject
  11. chest — a box
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. scale — size or range
  15. chest — of your body
  16. scale — in music
  17. field — for sport
  18. game — a match
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. can — a tin
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. can — to be able to
  23. track — to keep track
  24. capital — a city

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