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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. field — a subject
  3. wind — moving air
  4. band — a ring
  5. field — for sport
  6. fall — to drop
  7. wind — moving air
  8. board — a committee
  9. band — a music group
  10. chest — of your body
  11. fall — the season
  12. field — farmland
  13. fall — to drop
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. chest — a box
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. chest — of your body
  18. board — a flat piece

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