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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: last · chest · chair · bore · land · field · toast · capital

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. field — a subject
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. toast — bread
  7. capital — a city
  8. field — for sport
  9. last — final
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. land — ground
  12. chest — of your body
  13. land — a country
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. field — farmland
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. capital — money
  18. last — to go on
  19. bore — to drill
  20. chest — a box
  21. bore — to tire
  22. land — to come down
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bore — gave birth

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