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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 120 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 hit the back of the ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. swing — to play on
  3. field — for sport
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. can — a tin
  6. can — to be able to
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. pass — a permit
  10. kid — to tease
  11. can — a tin
  12. field — a subject
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. court — of a king
  15. dip — to sink
  16. net — after costs
  17. swing — music
  18. court — for sport
  19. swing — in golf
  20. field — farmland
  21. court — of law
  22. kid — child
  23. net — for catching
  24. dip — a sauce

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