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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 116 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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. bat — the animal
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. fork — in a road
  5. club — for golf
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. ground — crushed
  9. court — of law
  10. snap — to click
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. court — of a king
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — a gift
  15. field — for sport
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. ground — a position
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. court — for sport
  20. club — a group
  21. present — there
  22. field — farmland
  23. ground — the earth
  24. field — a subject

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