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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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — of law
  5. hand — help
  6. ball — a dance
  7. field — farmland
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. ball — a great time
  11. wind — moving air
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. tube — a container
  14. hand — in cards
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. field — a subject
  17. game — a match
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. field — for sport
  20. tube — the underground
  21. game — wild animals
  22. wind — moving air
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. court — for sport

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