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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: racket · chest · face · nail · hand · march · bat · capital

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. face — to confront
  4. chest — of your body
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. face — part of the head
  7. capital — a city
  8. march — the month
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. hand — in cards
  11. march — music
  12. chest — of your body
  13. face — to point toward
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. march — the month
  17. chest — a box
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. hand — help
  20. bat — the animal
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. nail — on a finger

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