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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · court · cap · drill · bass · file · field · rock

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. file — a document
  3. cap — a hat
  4. field — farmland
  5. bass — low music
  6. chest — a box
  7. file — a line of people
  8. court — for sport
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bass — the fish
  11. court — of law
  12. drill — the tool
  13. chest — of your body
  14. field — a subject
  15. court — of a king
  16. field — for sport
  17. drill — a practice
  18. cap — a lid
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. cap — of ice
  21. rock — music
  22. rock — a stone
  23. file — a tool
  24. drill — army training

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