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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 120 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wound — an injury
  4. club — for golf
  5. race — the arms race
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. race — a contest
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. club — a group
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — in football
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. wound — an injury
  15. file — a document
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. field — farmland
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a tool
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. race — humankind
  23. club — for dancing
  24. board — to get on

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