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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. net — for catching
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. field — a subject
  7. board — to get on
  8. swing — in golf
  9. game — wild animals
  10. branch — a division
  11. net — in sport
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. kid — to tease
  14. field — for sport
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. kid — child
  17. swing — to play on
  18. game — a match
  19. swing — music
  20. net — after costs
  21. board — a committee
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. field — farmland
  24. game — a kind of play

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