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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. field — a subject
  3. chest — a box
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. field — farmland
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. field — for sport
  14. bark — to shout
  15. board — to get on
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. rock — music
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. rock — a stone

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