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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 teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. board — a committee
  3. track — to keep track
  4. roll — a cake
  5. field — a subject
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. bat — the animal
  8. chest — of your body
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. track — a song
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. chest — a box
  14. track — a path
  15. board — to get on
  16. field — for sport
  17. foot — a measure
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. chest — of your body
  23. field — farmland
  24. 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