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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 120 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: capital · bowl · racket · chest · bark · bore · field · bat

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. chest — a box
  5. field — for sport
  6. bark — to shout
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. capital — a city
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bore — to tire
  15. bore — to drill
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. field — farmland
  20. chest — of your body
  21. capital — money
  22. bat — the animal
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. field — a subject

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