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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 116 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: cue · bark · field · board · capital · file · stand · pitcher

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. cue — a hint
  3. file — a tool
  4. field — for sport
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. board — a committee
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. capital — a city
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. capital — money
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. cue — for pool
  20. stand — to bear
  21. board — to get on
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cue — a signal
  24. stand — on your feet

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