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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 120 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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. field — for sport
  3. foot — a measure
  4. kid — to tease
  5. field — farmland
  6. mark — a grade
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. clip — a video
  9. court — of law
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. court — of a king
  12. rash — a series
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. field — a subject
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. rash — hasty
  19. clip — for paper
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. kid — child
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. mark — a trace
  24. clip — to cut

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