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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — for sport
  5. field — for sport
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bass — low music
  8. craft — boats
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. field — farmland
  13. bass — the fish
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. net — for catching
  17. court — of law
  18. net — after costs
  19. deal — to handle
  20. pitch — completely
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. craft — a skill
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. wound — an injury

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