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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. cell — in biology
  3. field — farmland
  4. hand — in cards
  5. squash — to crush
  6. bank — for money
  7. cold — an illness
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — help
  11. board — a committee
  12. bank — of a river
  13. board — to get on
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. field — for sport
  18. cell — a phone
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. field — a subject
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. bank — for money

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