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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. court — of law
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. net — after costs
  8. wound — an injury
  9. court — of a king
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. court — for sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. content — the amount
  14. staff — a stick
  15. wound — an injury
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — happy
  18. net — in sport
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. field — farmland
  21. staff — employees
  22. staff — employees
  23. snap — to click
  24. net — for catching

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