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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. field — farmland
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — ground
  7. court — for sport
  8. present — the time now
  9. present — there
  10. cold — an illness
  11. court — of law
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. press — to push
  14. wake — a trail
  15. land — a country
  16. present — a gift
  17. court — of a king
  18. field — a subject
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. press — newspapers
  21. press — a publisher
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. cold — the Cold War

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