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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. field — a subject
  3. pop — to visit
  4. court — of a king
  5. pop — soda
  6. band — a music group
  7. court — for sport
  8. hand — in cards
  9. chip — to eat
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. chip — for betting
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. court — of law
  15. dip — to sink
  16. hand — help
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. pop — music
  20. field — farmland
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. band — a ring
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. field — for sport

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