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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: board · field · hand · row · chest · wound · stand · roll

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — to paddle
  4. field — for sport
  5. board — a committee
  6. roll — a cake
  7. field — a subject
  8. chest — of your body
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. hand — help
  13. wound — an injury
  14. roll — a list
  15. field — farmland
  16. hand — in cards
  17. stand — to bear
  18. chest — of your body
  19. board — to get on
  20. chest — a box
  21. row — a line
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. roll — on a roll
  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