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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. field — a subject
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. file — a tool
  9. court — of a king
  10. kick — in football
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. file — a document
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. court — for sport
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. court — of law
  19. field — farmland
  20. file — a line of people
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. mine — for digging
  24. field — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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