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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 116 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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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. kick — a thrill
  2. net — in sport
  3. field — for sport
  4. bank — for money
  5. bank — for money
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. field — farmland
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of law
  10. file — a tool
  11. net — for catching
  12. file — a line of people
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. net — after costs
  17. band — a ring
  18. bank — of a river
  19. stock — goods
  20. file — a document
  21. band — a music group
  22. court — of a king
  23. kick — in football
  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