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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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. mine — for digging
  4. game — wild animals
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. court — for sport
  7. tube — the underground
  8. tube — a container
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. court — of law
  11. game — a match
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. court — of a king
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. pitch — completely
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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