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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: bat · kid · mine · field · rash · board · firm · leaves

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. firm — a company
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. kid — child
  10. mine — for digging
  11. rash — hasty
  12. field — a subject
  13. firm — decided
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. kid — to tease
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. field — farmland
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. board — a committee
  20. field — for sport
  21. firm — steady
  22. bat — the animal
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. rash — a series

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