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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. court — of a king
  7. hand — help
  8. content — happy
  9. court — for sport
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. saw — the tool
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. deal — to handle
  14. field — for sport
  15. hand — in cards
  16. content — the amount
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. pass — a permit
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. saw — the tool
  21. court — of law
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. cabinet — ministers

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