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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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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: scale · tear · file · swing · march · chest · field · kid

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. scale — in music
  3. march — music
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — a subject
  6. march — the month
  7. swing — music
  8. tear — from crying
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. march — the month
  14. file — a document
  15. chest — a box
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. swing — to play on
  18. file — a tool
  19. tear — to rip
  20. scale — size or range
  21. file — a line of people
  22. field — for sport
  23. swing — in golf
  24. kid — child

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