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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. squash — the sport
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. court — of law
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. field — farmland
  9. cell — in biology
  10. squash — to crush
  11. field — a subject
  12. hand — help
  13. cell — a phone
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. court — for sport
  22. march — the month
  23. hand — in cards
  24. court — of a king

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