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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. bound — obliged
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bound — certain
  7. board — to get on
  8. pitch — completely
  9. board — a committee
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. field — farmland
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — for sport
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. field — a subject
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. game — a match
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bound — tied together
  24. game — wild animals

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