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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: band · chest · field · spring · capital · board · fan · lash

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. board — a committee
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. spring — of water
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. spring — the season
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. band — a ring
  9. field — for sport
  10. board — to get on
  11. chest — a box
  12. field — farmland
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. field — a subject
  16. spring — a coil
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. capital — a city
  19. band — a music group
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. capital — money

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