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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 116 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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. field — a subject
  3. cell — in biology
  4. track — to keep track
  5. court — of law
  6. court — for sport
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. swing — music
  10. wound — an injury
  11. court — of a king
  12. track — a song
  13. wound — an injury
  14. scale — in music
  15. cell — a phone
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. field — for sport
  18. swing — to play on
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. field — farmland
  21. scale — size or range
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. track — a path
  24. swing — in golf

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