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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 · pound · bass · hand · file · field · content · court

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. field — for sport
  6. court — of law
  7. file — a tool
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bass — low music
  14. field — a subject
  15. bass — the fish
  16. content — the amount
  17. court — of a king
  18. content — happy
  19. hand — help
  20. pound — a weight
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. hand — in cards
  23. field — farmland
  24. court — for sport

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