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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. court — for sport
  5. last — finally
  6. field — a subject
  7. rush — hurry
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. game — a match
  10. field — farmland
  11. tube — a container
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. last — to go on
  15. snap — to click
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. last — final
  18. tube — the underground
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. game — wild animals
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. court — of a king
  23. branch — a division
  24. field — for sport

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