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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'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. board — a committee
  3. cell — in biology
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. staff — a stick
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. rash — hasty
  10. board — to get on
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a document
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. field — a subject
  17. file — a tool
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. field — for sport
  21. staff — employees
  22. rash — a series
  23. staff — employees
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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