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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 · club · straw · bat · chest · tear · charge · scale

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  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. bat — for baseball
  2. field — farmland
  3. tear — from crying
  4. chest — a box
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. tear — to rip
  7. scale — size or range
  8. field — for sport
  9. chest — of your body
  10. club — for golf
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. club — a group
  13. tear — from crying
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. charge — electricity
  16. chest — of your body
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. bat — the animal
  19. charge — a price
  20. club — for dancing
  21. scale — in music
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. charge — in control
  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