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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. court — for sport
  4. field — for sport
  5. mine — for digging
  6. field — farmland
  7. court — of a king
  8. ground — the earth
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. season — of the year
  11. court — of law
  12. swing — to play on
  13. field — a subject
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. ground — crushed
  18. swing — in golf
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. season — in sport
  22. swing — music
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. leaves — of a tree

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