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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 120 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. object — a thing
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. object — to protest
  7. court — for sport
  8. net — for catching
  9. game — wild animals
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. court — of law
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. fork — in a road
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — in sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. court — of a king
  20. game — a match
  21. object — an aim
  22. kick — in football
  23. last — finally
  24. kick — a thrill

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