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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: wound · jam · board · cap · pitcher · rash · file · field

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a hat
  6. file — a line of people
  7. rash — a series
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. cap — a lid
  10. field — a subject
  11. board — to get on
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. file — a document
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. board — a committee
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. file — a tool
  22. wound — an injury
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. wound — an injury

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