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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: file · chair · scale · face · pit · field · drill · craft

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. pit — a hole
  3. scale — in music
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. field — for sport
  6. drill — army training
  7. craft — boats
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. face — to point toward
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. field — a subject
  13. craft — a skill
  14. chair — a leader
  15. face — part of the head
  16. file — a document
  17. face — to confront
  18. scale — size or range
  19. drill — the tool
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. drill — a practice
  22. file — a tool
  23. pit — in a race
  24. file — a line of people

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