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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. field — farmland
  4. dip — to sink
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. present — there
  7. object — a thing
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. court — of a king
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. object — an aim
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. field — for sport
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. court — of law
  20. present — a gift
  21. present — the time now
  22. mine — for digging
  23. object — to protest
  24. field — a subject

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