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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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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: race · saw · board · court · mine · ground · field · swing

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. saw — the tool
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — the arms race
  5. ground — a position
  6. mine — for digging
  7. field — for sport
  8. ground — crushed
  9. court — for sport
  10. field — a subject
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. board — a committee
  13. board — to get on
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — of law
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. saw — the tool
  18. swing — in golf
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. race — humankind
  21. field — farmland
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — to play on

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