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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. squash — the sport
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. squash — to crush
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a ring
  8. board — to get on
  9. plane — a tool
  10. bark — to shout
  11. field — for sport
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. dip — to sink
  15. board — a committee
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. scale — in music
  19. field — a subject
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. band — a music group
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. squash — the vegetable

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