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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 is in your ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  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. court — for sport
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. charge — electricity
  4. court — of a king
  5. charge — in control
  6. rock — a stone
  7. bark — to shout
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. field — a subject
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. rock — music
  14. wax — to grow
  15. chip — for betting
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — a phone
  19. court — of law
  20. field — farmland
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. charge — a price
  23. chip — to eat
  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