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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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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 · vault · degree · cap · tear · field · season · foot

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. chest — of your body
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. tear — from crying
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. season — in sport
  6. foot — a measure
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a hat
  11. chest — a box
  12. field — farmland
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. field — for sport
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. season — of the year
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying
  19. chest — of your body
  20. degree — from a university
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. vault — a safe
  23. degree — an amount
  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