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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: chest · kid · coach · can · wound · tube · face · field

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. face — to confront
  3. kid — child
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. field — for sport
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. can — to be able to
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. face — part of the head
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. tube — the underground
  15. wound — an injury
  16. tube — a container
  17. chest — a box
  18. can — a tin
  19. face — to point toward
  20. field — farmland
  21. can — a tin
  22. wound — an injury
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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