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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: bound · board · pitcher · pitch · race · field · squash · file

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. bound — obliged
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. field — farmland
  5. file — a document
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bound — tied together
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. field — for sport
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitch — completely
  12. file — a tool
  13. race — humankind
  14. board — a committee
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. race — a contest
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. board — to get on
  19. squash — to crush
  20. bound — certain
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. race — the arms race
  23. file — a line of people
  24. field — a subject

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