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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. pop — music
  3. court — for sport
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. field — for sport
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pop — to visit
  15. court — of a king
  16. cell — in biology
  17. rash — hasty
  18. pop — soda
  19. court — of law
  20. field — farmland
  21. field — a subject
  22. rash — a series
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. bat — the animal

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