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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. bore — to drill
  4. lean — thin
  5. court — of law
  6. clip — to cut
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. field — farmland
  9. hand — in cards
  10. face — to confront
  11. swing — music
  12. field — for sport
  13. lean — to bend
  14. face — to point toward
  15. face — part of the head
  16. swing — to play on
  17. clip — for paper
  18. swing — in golf
  19. hand — help
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. field — a subject
  22. clip — a video
  23. bore — to tire
  24. court — of a king

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