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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: board · saw · bat · file · field · mine

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. 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. board — to get on
  2. field — farmland
  3. file — a document
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. saw — the tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bat — the animal
  9. field — a subject
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. file — a tool
  12. saw — the tool
  13. mine — for digging
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. board — a committee
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. 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