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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. club — for dancing
  3. band — a music group
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. field — a subject
  6. pit — a hole
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for golf
  9. net — in sport
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. field — farmland
  14. band — a ring
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. kid — to tease
  17. field — for sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. capital — a city
  20. pit — in a race
  21. capital — money
  22. net — after costs
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. band — a rubber band

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