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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. kid — to tease
  3. mug — a cup
  4. scale — in music
  5. mug — to rob
  6. current — happening now
  7. field — a subject
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. court — of a king
  10. scale — size or range
  11. net — after costs
  12. pop — to visit
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. court — for sport
  15. pop — soda
  16. current — electric
  17. pop — music
  18. current — of water
  19. mug — a face
  20. kid — child
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. net — for catching
  24. court — of law

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