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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. ball — a great time
  3. field — farmland
  4. chest — of your body
  5. field — a subject
  6. row — to paddle
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. board — a committee
  9. ball — a dance
  10. chest — a box
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. stock — shares
  15. rest — what's left
  16. stock — goods
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. board — to get on
  21. chest — of your body
  22. rest — what's left
  23. field — for sport
  24. rest — a break

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