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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  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. band — a rubber band
  2. court — of a king
  3. season — in sport
  4. court — for sport
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. ground — crushed
  7. ground — the earth
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. field — farmland
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a music group
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. ground — a position
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. court — of law
  18. saw — the tool
  19. field — for sport
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. tear — from crying
  22. saw — the tool
  23. season — of the year
  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