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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. net — after costs
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. board — a committee
  5. field — a subject
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. stock — shares
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. net — for catching
  10. race — humankind
  11. net — in sport
  12. race — a contest
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. race — the arms race
  15. field — farmland
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. bat — the animal
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — goods
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. field — for sport
  24. bass — low music

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