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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chip — to eat
  4. chest — of your body
  5. track — to keep track
  6. present — the time now
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. track — a song
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. track — a path
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. chip — for betting
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. field — a subject
  18. present — there
  19. board — to get on
  20. capital — a city
  21. bark — to shout
  22. capital — money
  23. chest — a box
  24. board — a committee

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