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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. band — a ring
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. court — for sport
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. field — farmland
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. swing — in golf
  11. row — to paddle
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. band — a music group
  15. row — a line
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. field — a subject
  20. swing — to play on
  21. court — of a king
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. field — for sport
  24. swing — music

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