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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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. kick — a thrill
  2. court — for sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. club — for dancing
  5. club — for golf
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. fork — in a road
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — to shout
  11. current — of water
  12. current — happening now
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. current — electric
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. court — of law
  17. court — of a king
  18. club — a group
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a ring
  22. field — for sport
  23. kick — in football
  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