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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 120 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: leaves · content · board · swing · deal · pitcher · spell · field

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. content — happy
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. field — for sport
  7. deal — to handle
  8. field — farmland
  9. spell — magic
  10. spell — a short time
  11. board — to get on
  12. content — the amount
  13. swing — in golf
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. spell — letters
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. swing — music
  22. field — a subject
  23. swing — to play on
  24. board — a committee

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