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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 · chest · swing · scale · drill · season · bass · march

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  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. chest — a box
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. chest — of your body
  4. season — in sport
  5. chest — of your body
  6. march — music
  7. court — of law
  8. court — of a king
  9. scale — size or range
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — the tool
  13. swing — music
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. court — for sport
  16. bass — low music
  17. season — of the year
  18. swing — in golf
  19. scale — in music
  20. bass — the fish
  21. march — the month
  22. swing — to play on
  23. march — the month
  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