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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. board — to get on
  4. board — a committee
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. cold — an illness
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. march — the month
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. march — the month
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. land — to come down
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. field — for sport
  18. land — a country
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. land — ground
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. cold — not warm
  23. march — music
  24. chair — a leader

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