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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: field · hand · chest · object · capital · key · band · ruler

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — to protest
  3. field — a subject
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. chest — of your body
  9. capital — a city
  10. chest — of your body
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. capital — money
  13. band — a music group
  14. object — a thing
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. key — the most important part
  19. key — for a lock
  20. field — for sport
  21. chest — a box
  22. key — in music
  23. field — farmland
  24. band — a ring

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