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

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. bore — to tire
  6. field — farmland
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. bore — to drill
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. spell — letters
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — a short time
  13. field — for sport
  14. court — of law
  15. court — of a king
  16. pitch — completely
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. court — 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