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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — of law
  3. drill — the tool
  4. bank — for money
  5. file — a tool
  6. ground — crushed
  7. ground — the earth
  8. drill — a practice
  9. ground — a position
  10. drill — army training
  11. court — for sport
  12. bank — of a river
  13. field — for sport
  14. deal — to handle
  15. bank — for money
  16. file — a document
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. file — a line of people
  19. kid — child
  20. field — a subject
  21. kid — to tease
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. field — farmland

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