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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. court — for sport
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. field — a subject
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — the amount
  11. wind — moving air
  12. court — of a king
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. game — a match
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. content — happy
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. game — wild animals
  19. court — of law
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. wind — moving air

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