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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — a subject
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. track — a song
  6. chest — a box
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. roll — a cake
  9. board — to get on
  10. chest — of your body
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. field — farmland
  13. roll — a list
  14. track — a path
  15. track — to keep track
  16. bat — the animal
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bat — in an idiom

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