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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. court — of law
  4. field — a subject
  5. fork — in a road
  6. dip — to sink
  7. rock — music
  8. game — wild animals
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. field — for sport
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. scale — size or range
  14. field — farmland
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. scale — in music
  18. game — a match
  19. court — of a king
  20. rock — a stone
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. hide — animal skin

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