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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 124 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. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bound — certain
  3. scale — in music
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. field — for sport
  6. board — to get on
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. board — a committee
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. bound — tied together
  13. bound — obliged
  14. row — to paddle
  15. degree — an amount
  16. row — a line
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. degree — from a university
  20. field — a subject
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. scale — size or range
  24. degree — temperature

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