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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. field — a subject
  5. degree — an amount
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. row — a line
  8. wound — an injury
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. stand — to bear
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. court — for sport
  15. field — farmland
  16. court — of law
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. wound — an injury
  21. row — to paddle
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. court — of a king
  24. field — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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