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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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. wax — to grow
  4. game — wild animals
  5. spring — the season
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. foot — a measure
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. spring — of water
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — farmland
  15. spring — a coil
  16. game — a match
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. board — to get on
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. racket — for tennis

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