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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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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: chair · drill · pitch · field · board · season · fan · wake

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. season — in sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. chair — a leader
  6. board — a committee
  7. field — for sport
  8. drill — a practice
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. drill — the tool
  11. field — farmland
  12. pitch — completely
  13. drill — army training
  14. board — to get on
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. season — of the year
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. wake — a trail

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