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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: fine · bat · board · wind · squash · fan · field · straw

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. fine — all right
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. fine — high quality
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wind — moving air
  10. board — a committee
  11. field — a subject
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. field — for sport
  15. squash — the sport
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wind — moving air
  19. board — to get on
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. field — farmland
  24. squash — to crush

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