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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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Word bank
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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. squash — to crush
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. content — the amount
  5. field — farmland
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. board — a committee
  8. squash — the sport
  9. board — to get on
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. branch — a division
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. field — a subject
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. field — for sport
  20. content — happy
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fan — a supporter

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