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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. court — for sport
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. wind — moving air
  5. field — a subject
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. court — of law
  8. field — farmland
  9. bulb — for light
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. roll — a list
  12. roll — a cake
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. bulb — for light
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. rush — hurry
  19. field — for sport
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. court — of a king
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. stand — to bear

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