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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. game — a match
  3. pit — in a race
  4. face — to point toward
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. face — part of the head
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — a subject
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. court — of a king
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. pit — a hole
  13. field — farmland
  14. court — of law
  15. game — wild animals
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. face — to confront

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