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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. rush — hurry
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. key — in music
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. field — a subject
  9. key — the most important part
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. court — for sport
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. field — farmland
  16. court — of a king
  17. key — for a lock
  18. cold — not warm
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. court — of law
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. lash — an eyelash

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