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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: bass · field · stand · pitch · game · foot · wound · file

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. wound — an injury
  3. file — a document
  4. bass — low music
  5. file — a tool
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. field — farmland
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. field — a subject
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. field — for sport
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bass — the fish
  14. foot — a measure
  15. stand — to bear
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. game — wild animals
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. pitch — completely
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. game — a kind of play

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