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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. ground — a position
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. field — for sport
  5. rash — a series
  6. ground — the earth
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. mine — for digging
  10. hand — help
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. board — to get on
  17. field — farmland
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. board — a committee
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. hand — in cards
  23. ground — crushed
  24. field — a subject

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