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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. face — part of the head
  4. club — for dancing
  5. board — to get on
  6. cold — an illness
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. track — to keep track
  9. field — a subject
  10. face — to confront
  11. club — a group
  12. cold — not warm
  13. content — happy
  14. content — the amount
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. track — a song
  18. face — to point toward
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. club — for golf
  21. track — a path
  22. board — a committee
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. field — for sport

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