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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 116 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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. cell — in biology
  3. court — of law
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. field — farmland
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. court — for sport
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. shower — rain
  10. cell — a phone
  11. rule — government
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. field — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. rule — a law
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — to wash

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