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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: club · trunk · chest · ball · coach · field · game · scale

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. field — farmland
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. field — for sport
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. game — wild animals
  11. club — for dancing
  12. chest — of your body
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. chest — a box
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — size or range
  17. club — for golf
  18. ball — a great time
  19. field — a subject
  20. ball — a dance
  21. chest — of your body
  22. game — a match
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. club — a group

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