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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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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 · field · nail · rest · kid · march · kick · saw

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  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. march — the month
  2. kid — to tease
  3. rest — a break
  4. chest — of your body
  5. saw — the tool
  6. rest — what's left
  7. march — the month
  8. field — for sport
  9. chest — a box
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. saw — the tool
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. rest — what's left
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. field — farmland
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. chest — of your body
  20. march — music
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. kick — in football
  23. kid — child
  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