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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: field · bear · branch · court · capital · sharp · chest · tear

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. court — of a king
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. tear — from crying
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. bear — the animal
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. field — farmland
  11. sharp — clever
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a city
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bear — the animal
  16. branch — a division
  17. field — for sport
  18. tear — to rip
  19. field — a subject
  20. court — for sport
  21. court — of law
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. sharp — with an edge

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