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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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. 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. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. field — a subject
  6. court — of a king
  7. ball — a dance
  8. court — for sport
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wake — a trail
  11. court — of law
  12. ball — a great time
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. field — farmland
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. 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