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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: shower · board · field · pitcher · spell · bound · rule · chair

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. board — a committee
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. spell — a short time
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. spell — letters
  10. bound — obliged
  11. field — farmland
  12. shower — to wash
  13. chair — a leader
  14. rule — government
  15. bound — certain
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. shower — rain
  18. bound — tied together
  19. rule — a law
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. board — to get on
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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