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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. object — to protest
  4. field — a subject
  5. object — a thing
  6. ball — a great time
  7. land — ground
  8. field — for sport
  9. ball — a dance
  10. object — an aim
  11. court — of a king
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. tube — the underground
  14. mine — for digging
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. court — of law
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. tube — a container
  20. court — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. land — a country
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. land — to come down

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