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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

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: game · chip · scale · march · field · bat

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. march — the month
  3. bat — the animal
  4. march — music
  5. scale — size or range
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. field — a subject
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. march — the month
  10. game — wild animals
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. chip — to eat
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. field — for sport
  15. chip — for betting
  16. scale — in music
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. game — a match

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