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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 116 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. board — to get on
  3. field — farmland
  4. game — wild animals
  5. shower — to wash
  6. board — a committee
  7. cell — in biology
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. track — a song
  11. club — for golf
  12. game — a match
  13. track — a path
  14. club — for dancing
  15. field — a subject
  16. shower — rain
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. field — for sport
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. club — a group
  21. track — to keep track
  22. branch — a division
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. game — a kind of play

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