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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: bat · chest · capital · leaves · field · fork · kick · lie

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. chest — of your body
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. capital — money
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. kick — in football
  14. field — farmland
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. bat — the animal
  18. capital — a city
  19. fork — in a road
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. lie — to recline
  22. field — a subject
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. chest — a box

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