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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 116 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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. field — a subject
  4. board — a committee
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. field — for sport
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. plane — a tool
  9. object — to protest
  10. bark — to shout
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. net — after costs
  13. object — a thing
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — in sport
  16. object — an aim
  17. board — to get on
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. field — farmland
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. row — to paddle
  24. plane — in geometry

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