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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: court · wake · chest · mouse · file · pitcher · field · board

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. field — farmland
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. file — a line of people
  6. field — a subject
  7. chest — of your body
  8. board — a committee
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. field — for sport
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. court — of a king
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. file — a tool
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. court — for sport
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. board — to get on
  21. chest — of your body
  22. court — of law
  23. chest — a box
  24. wake — a trail

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