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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. prune — to trim
  4. charge — in control
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. land — a country
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. board — a committee
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. land — ground
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. cell — a phone
  15. prune — to trim
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — a subject
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. charge — a price
  20. cell — in biology
  21. board — to get on
  22. charge — electricity
  23. land — to come down
  24. wake — a trail

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