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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. court — of a king
  3. rest — a break
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. march — music
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. march — the month
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. march — the month
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pitch — completely
  12. field — a subject
  13. file — a document
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. court — for sport
  18. field — for sport
  19. file — a tool
  20. field — farmland
  21. rest — what's left
  22. court — of law
  23. clip — to cut
  24. file — a line of people

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