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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 120 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. rush — hurry
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. field — farmland
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cap — of ice
  7. board — to get on
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. game — a match
  11. cap — a hat
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. bat — the animal
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. field — a subject
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. field — for sport
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. cap — a lid
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bat — in an idiom

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