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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 120 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. ground — a position
  4. field — for sport
  5. pop — music
  6. ground — the earth
  7. game — a match
  8. field — a subject
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. content — the amount
  11. pop — soda
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. ground — crushed
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. content — happy
  23. game — wild animals
  24. pop — to visit

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