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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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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: bowl · board · dip · capital · jam · field · track · wound

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. track — a path
  5. board — a committee
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. track — a song
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. track — to keep track
  13. dip — to sink
  14. wound — an injury
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — for sport
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. field — a subject
  21. capital — money
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. wound — an injury
  24. dip — a sauce

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