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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. board — a committee
  3. club — a group
  4. capital — a city
  5. date — the fruit
  6. field — for sport
  7. court — of a king
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. board — to get on
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. club — for golf
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. field — a subject
  15. branch — a division
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. field — farmland
  18. bear — the animal
  19. court — for sport
  20. bear — the animal
  21. court — of law
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. board — a flat piece

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