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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: lash · kid · game · track · chest · straw · coach · capital

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. track — to keep track
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. game — wild animals
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. chest — of your body
  7. capital — a city
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. kid — child
  15. game — a match
  16. chest — a box
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. track — a song
  19. track — a path
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. kid — to tease
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. capital — money
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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