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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. field — a subject
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. field — for sport
  6. wind — moving air
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. field — farmland
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. game — a match
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. game — wild animals
  15. pitch — completely
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. wind — moving air
  24. kick — in football

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