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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: straw · march · stick · capital · field · staff · coach · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. capital — money
  4. field — for sport
  5. staff — employees
  6. capital — a city
  7. chest — a box
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. staff — a stick
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. chest — of your body
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. march — the month
  16. field — a subject
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. staff — employees
  20. march — the month
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. march — music
  24. field — farmland

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