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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. court — for sport
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. court — of law
  8. game — a match
  9. race — a contest
  10. field — for sport
  11. race — the arms race
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. court — of a king
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. game — wild animals
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. content — happy
  23. race — humankind
  24. coach — a trainer

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