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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. court — of a king
  4. sharp — clever
  5. staff — employees
  6. content — the amount
  7. lie — to recline
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. field — a subject
  10. ground — the earth
  11. content — happy
  12. field — farmland
  13. staff — employees
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — a position
  17. staff — a stick
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. field — for sport
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. court — of law

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