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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: rest · bowl · lie · capital · field · coach · deal · hand

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. rest — what's left
  4. deal — to handle
  5. rest — a break
  6. hand — in cards
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — for sport
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. capital — a city
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. capital — money
  14. hand — help
  15. field — farmland
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. lie — to recline
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. rest — what's left

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