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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 120 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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wake — a trail
  4. land — to come down
  5. field — farmland
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. fall — to drop
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. land — ground
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. perch — the fish
  14. fall — the season
  15. land — a country
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. last — final
  18. board — to get on
  19. chest — of your body
  20. last — finally
  21. chest — a box
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. last — to go on
  24. board — a committee

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