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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. board — a committee
  4. file — a document
  5. board — to get on
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — in music
  10. present — a gift
  11. present — the time now
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. field — farmland
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. scale — size or range
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. present — there
  21. file — a tool
  22. field — a subject
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cold — an illness

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