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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. net — in sport
  3. suit — in cards
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. net — after costs
  6. net — for catching
  7. land — to come down
  8. court — of a king
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. pound — a weight
  11. root — of a plant
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. field — farmland
  14. suit — to fit
  15. field — for sport
  16. land — a country
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. root — of a word
  19. root — the cause
  20. suit — clothes
  21. court — of law
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. land — ground
  24. field — a subject

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