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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. court — of law
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. court — for sport
  7. bear — the animal
  8. field — a subject
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. bear — the animal
  12. scale — size or range
  13. court — of a king
  14. squash — to crush
  15. fine — high quality
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. fine — all right
  19. chest — of your body
  20. shower — rain
  21. chest — a box
  22. field — for sport
  23. chest — of your body
  24. 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