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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: track · field · board · cell · bat · dip · file · swing

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. field — a subject
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. swing — to play on
  5. field — for sport
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. dip — to sink
  8. cell — a phone
  9. swing — music
  10. board — a committee
  11. swing — in golf
  12. file — a tool
  13. bat — the animal
  14. track — to keep track
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. file — a line of people
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. file — a document
  21. track — a path
  22. board — to get on
  23. track — a song
  24. field — farmland

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