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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chest · rest · mine · field · bore · racket · hand · capital

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chest — a box
  4. hand — help
  5. field — for sport
  6. capital — a city
  7. bore — to drill
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. field — farmland
  12. bore — to tire
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. field — a subject
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. chest — of your body
  18. rest — what's left
  19. hand — in cards
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — money
  24. mine — for digging

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