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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 120 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: chest · pitcher · coach · drill · field · board · file · ground

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. file — a document
  3. ground — a position
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. chest — of your body
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. field — for sport
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. drill — the tool
  10. chest — of your body
  11. file — a tool
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. board — a committee
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. ground — the earth
  16. field — farmland
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. file — a line of people
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. ground — crushed
  21. board — to get on
  22. chest — a box
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — a practice

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