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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 124 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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. ball — a great time
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. hand — help
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. chest — a box
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. field — farmland
  11. chest — of your body
  12. rash — a series
  13. hand — in cards
  14. field — a subject
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a match
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. rash — hasty
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. ball — a dance
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. wake — a trail

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