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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. field — a subject
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. mate — to breed
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. field — for sport
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. field — farmland
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — in music
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. rest — what's left
  16. board — to get on
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bat — the animal
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. mate — a partner
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. mate — a friend

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