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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. roll — a cake
  3. shower — to wash
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. board — a committee
  6. bore — to tire
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. board — to get on
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. pitch — completely
  11. roll — a list
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. shower — rain
  16. spring — the season
  17. saw — the tool
  18. spring — of water
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. field — for sport
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bore — to drill
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bore — gave birth

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