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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · swing · drill · roll · file · bark · field · coach

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. field — for sport
  4. drill — a practice
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. swing — in golf
  7. drill — the tool
  8. roll — a list
  9. file — a tool
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. chest — a box
  12. field — a subject
  13. file — a document
  14. swing — to play on
  15. file — a line of people
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. field — farmland
  20. drill — army training
  21. chest — of your body
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a cake
  24. swing — music

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