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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chest · mark · field · cold · board · fall · fan · saw

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. field — for sport
  3. saw — the tool
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. mark — a grade
  7. board — a committee
  8. cold — not warm
  9. field — farmland
  10. chest — of your body
  11. saw — the tool
  12. fall — to drop
  13. mark — a trace
  14. field — a subject
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fall — the season
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cold — an illness
  23. board — to get on
  24. fall — to drop

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