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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: club · field · safe · cold · wound · board · date · straw

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. wound — an injury
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. board — a committee
  6. cold — an illness
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — a group
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. field — farmland
  13. cold — not warm
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — the fruit
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. club — for golf
  21. wound — an injury
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. safe — out of danger

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