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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. court — of a king
  6. band — a ring
  7. land — to come down
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. field — for sport
  10. can — a tin
  11. mate — a partner
  12. can — to be able to
  13. court — for sport
  14. press — newspapers
  15. game — a match
  16. press — a publisher
  17. band — a music group
  18. mate — to breed
  19. press — to push
  20. game — wild animals
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — farmland
  23. can — a tin
  24. court — of law

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