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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. field — for sport
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. game — a match
  10. field — a subject
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. field — farmland
  13. sharp — clever
  14. shower — rain
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. bark — to shout
  18. shower — to wash
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. key — for a lock
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. key — in music
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. key — the most important part

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