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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. field — a subject
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. degree — an amount
  8. game — wild animals
  9. board — a committee
  10. degree — from a university
  11. game — a match
  12. squash — to crush
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. squash — the sport
  15. wound — an injury
  16. board — to get on
  17. field — for sport
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. degree — temperature
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. wound — an injury
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. field — farmland

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